The era of beer monopolies in Africa is over

In the end, the Namibian Government probably ran out of reasons why SABMiller cannot build a brewery in the country. Initially, the Government will have tried to protect its then Namibian-owned brewery from competition. But after Namibia Breweries were bought by Heineken/Diageo in 2003 and the two partners were granted a license to build a 3 million hl brewery near Johannesburg, the Namibian Government had to do likewise and allow SABMiller to build a brewery in Namibia.

Through the creation of a new subsidiary to be called SABMiller Namibia Ltd, SABMiller plan to invest in the construction of a 200,000 hl brewery in – rumoured – Tsumeb, a mining-town and tourist site some 450 km to the north of the capital of Windhoek with about 20,000 inhabitants.

SABMiller have been importing beer into Namibia through Castle Brewing Namibia for more than 20 years and have a stable market share of about 20 percent (or 200,000 hl) through brands such as Castle Lager, Carling Black Label, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Castle Lite, it was reported.

Once constructed, the plant will enable SABMiller to make their brands available in returnable bottles.

Heineken’s and Diageo’s new brewery in South Africa is already packaging product for the trade.