Have they all gone mad? Or did global brewers suffer from a last minute panic attack in the scramble for Africa? According to Ethiopian media, Heineken, SABMiller, Castel and Carlsberg have submitted offers for the 290,000 hl state-owned Bedele Brewery, which many think blatantly over-valued. Heineken’s bid of USD 85.2 million exceeded those of Carlsberg Brewery (USD 68 million), Castel Ethiopia (USD 64 million) and SABMiller (USD 70 million). In January 2011 Ethiopia’s privatisation agency PPESA invited bids for Bedele Brewery. These are currently being reviewed.

So Diageo has made a bid for the Meta Abo brewery on its own. It’s another madcap offer – rumoured to run to USD 150 million, which is way over the top like Heineken’s USD 85 million bid for Bedele Brewery. But the interesting question is not why the world’s number one drinks group and brewer of Guinness beer is prepared to spend so much on a medium-sized brewery in a market where all the global big wigs will be stepping on each others’ toes. The more pertinent issue is: why isn’t Diageo going for Meta Abo in tandem with its Kenyan partner, East-African Breweries (EABL)?

Times are a-changing and sometimes actually for the better. Ten years ago, your correspondent asked the CEO of what was then still SAB, Graham Mackay, what his company intended to do about the HIV/AIDS pandemic which had already begun to ravage Africa. His reply was: “Why should I be doing anything about it?” My reply was: “You could do something out of the goodness of your heart. Or you could do it for simple business reasons because if you don’t you will have to write-down your investments in human capital pretty quickly.”

“Double and half the price of beer and go farming!” That’s how Mark Bowman, President of SAB Miller Africa summed up his company’s strategy in Africa at an investor conference in Florida in February 2011. What could he have meant by this cryptic remark?

In case you are interested, bids have to be submitted in “wax-sealed envelopes to the privatisation agency before 28 March 2011.” Yep.

After several days of protest against President Mubarak’s regime, several large oil companies and other multinationals, Heineken among them, have shut down operations.

With the acquisition, Heineken will be assuming a controlling stake in Sona Breweries, IBBI, Benue Breweries, Life and Champion Breweries, which currently brew brands such as Goldberg, Williams Dark Ale and Malta Gold.

Wal-Mart’s USD 2.4 billion offer is the Arkansas-based company’s second biggest investment in more than a decade. In that time, Wal-Mart has grown its international revenue from virtually zero to a quarter of its annual USD 400 billion turnover (2009).

In December 2010 the boxing gloves were donned at KWV’s board because members were furious over the leak of information to the outside world about the possible takeover of the company, the company’s asset value and the fact that KWV executives had been in informal discussions with Halewood for the past 18 months without informing the board.

If only there was more of Africa

The Republic of South Africa, prominently projected as a rainbow nation throughout the world football season, has done Africa proud. From the comfort of my living room I watched many of the Football World Cup matches. Not that I am a soccer fan. I just wanted to see for myself the century held presumptions and stereotypes about Africa dispersed. Jubilant African soccer fans put the prejudice to rest that the continent is all about woes, worries and what nots. And if it took the damned vuvuzelas’ incessant, monotonous, droning moan, which had millions of viewers and even players screaming for a little peace and quiet, to blast any remnant prejudgment out of our minds, so be it. Yes, Africa can. Now let them have a beer to that.