As Egypt prepares for a referendum on a controversial new constitution 15 December 2012, the draft of which was boycotted by most liberals, secularists and Christians in the constituent assembly on 30 November, the news that the government had also drafted a law to raise the sales tax on several commodities, including alcohol, and services to 11 percent from 10 percent, went largely without comment.

It’s an interesting management change. Norman Adami, a 33-year veteran of SABMiller and currently Chairman plus Managing Director of the brewer’s South African unit SAB, will be promoted to the new role of Chairman, SABMiller Beverages South Africa with effect from 7 January 2013, SABMiller announced on 22 October 2012.

This would not be Nigeria if a new project did not immediately drown in a mire of alleged or factual corruption. Same with SABMiller’s new 500,000 hl brewery in Onitsha, Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria, which is the brewer’s first greenfield brewery in the country. It was officially opened on 30 August 2012, in the presence of Nigeria’s President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

It takes some daring to put big money behind a new brewery venture in Nigeria if you happen to be a latecomer to the market like SABMiller. The market is basically a cushy duopoly by Heineken and Diageo, both of whom have been active in Nigeria for decades. Heineken entered in 1946, Guinness in 1962. The two heavyweights have the market cornered: Heineken’s market share is about 70 percent, while Diageo’s is 25 percent.

South Africa is crafting a new law to restrict alcohol advertising, raise the minimum drinking age to 21 from 18 and clamp down on drink driving, media reported in August 2012.The bill would also propose warning labels on alcohol containers, raising taxes and stricter licensing laws for alcohol outlets.

Why is Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) buying a 15.5 percent stake in the Sedibeng brewery in South Africa, which is currently owned by Heineken (75 percent) and Diageo (25 percent)? The decision was made public by NBL’s majority shareholder Ohlthaver and List Group of Companies (O&L) in May 2012, without giving details of the purchasing price.

Is Nigeria really the promised land that international brewers Heineken, Diageo and SABMiller make it out to be? Or is the country a house that has fallen - whose roof may still be intact but shows many gaping holes, as risk consultancy Menas Associates, London, argues in a recent report?

It was to be expected that Heineken would not be content with owning two breweries in Africa’s second most populous country behind Nigeria. Early last year Heineken entered the Ethiopian beer market when the Dutch brewer acquired the Bedele and Harar breweries — both of which were publicly owned — for USD 78.1 million and USD 85.2 million, respectively.

SABMiller and EABL will not exactly be trembling in their shoes now that Heineken has opened a regional headquarter in Kenya's capital, as local media reported in March 2012. But it shows that global brewers are taking the East African market serious.

Given that volumes of homemade spirits and brews are estimated four times the volumes of commercial beer in Africa, it’s only logical that SABMiller is trying to woo beer drinkers across the continent to trade up to commercially-produced alcohol, i.e. their beers. The cheapest commercially brewed beers in Africa are sorghum beers and with Chibuku SABMiller think they have got a winner.