The only official beer for the World Cup 2010 is Anheuser Busch’s Budweiser. Other brewers are not allowed to advertise within the stadium. The FIFA is known to fiercely protect its marketing interests and react rigorously when someone threatens them.

SABMiller is reportedly investing in fan zones near World Cup stadiums, revamping existing bars in townships and conducting other promotions behind its Castle brand to help hold on to its near 90 percent share of the South African beer market.

The new brewery will also include a returnable bottle packaging line and warehousing facilities. SABMiller plans to locally produce its Castle and Castle Lite brands.

The Sedibeng facility is built on an 83 ha site comprising the brewery, a production plant and a warehouse managed by Brandhouse. The brewery is expected to produce 4 million hl by September, and eventually up to 6 million hl.

SAB, through a series of initiatives for its Castle brand, will try to rally South Africans to get behind their national team in the run up to the tournament and beyond.

Under the terms of the agreement, EABL will continue to brew and distribute SABMiller brands in Kenya, and both groups have also agreed to withdraw all claims and counter claims in arbitration in London and “not to pursue any further actions in respect of the matters”. Both parties involved say they will not comment further.

Right. I know the world loves a beer out of a bottle. It’s safe, it’s clean, it’s convenient. But is drinking beer out of a bottle stylish? Classy? Do you want to be caught in the act? Not to mention – does it go with the image, the aspirations of a premium beer brand to be served in bottles which will end up in dirty crates behind the back door? Therefore I’d like to ask you: Isn’t it the ultimate act of cool to be served a freshly tapped beer in a glass?

The conference’s theme is well-chosen. The Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy will probably expand 3.8 percent this year as the global recession eases, though export demand may wane in the second half of the year, according to the World Bank.

Castel, traditionally the more secretive of the two, has not released any targets it set itself for Nigeria. So no one knows whether it fell short of them. But SABMiller reportedly wanted to increase the output of Pabod Breweries eightfold to 250,000 hl by February 2010. A good indication that it missed its mark is the brewer’s recently released third quarter statement which makes no mention of Nigeria at all.

According to media reports, John Ustas, Managing Director of ABI, said that the company has gathered evidence of 241 incidents of violence and criminal acts since the strike began on 22 December 2009, including the stoning and gasoline bombing of delivery vehicles, shootings, attempted murder and assault. He said there have been seven arrests by the South African Police Services on charges including intimidation and kidnapping.