In a stunning display of religious orthodoxy, the Saudi owner of a five-star hotel in Cairo in May banned the serving of alcohol by reportedly dumping more than USD 300,000 of beer, wine and whiskey into the river Nile.

Apparently, Heineken does not want to take on SABMiller on its own. That’s why it has partnered with Diageo to build a brewery south of Johannesburg.

While the rest of the world is waiting for a super-deal to happen, Heineken is quietly expanding its reach into the Maghreb. Call it an “axis of appeasement” throughout predominantly Muslim countries or just a plain old-fashioned market conquest. In any case, Heineken definitely know what they are doing.

Competition is straining relations between Ethiopia’s s state-owned Meta Abo brewery and the privately-owned BGI which is controlled by the Frenchman Pierre Castel. Meta Abo, which is the largest of Ethiopia’s four government-controlled breweries, has launched a public complaint against the market leader, BGI (with 2 breweries in Ethiopia), claiming it has been the victim of unfair trading practices by BGI. According to reports in the local media, there is more at stake for BGI than its reputation because Meta Abo is also asking for compensation.

St George fighting the dragon

What used to be a shared monopoly is quickly, albeit stumblingly, turning into a highly competitive beer market. As the gap between Castel’s St George brewery and his state-owned rivals begins to widen, Ethiopia’s government-controlled breweries face the danger of falling behind.

No more Amstel for SAB. After 40 years, Heineken decided to terminate its contract with South African Breweries (SAB) on 12 March 2007 with immediate effect.

Having enjoyed a beer market monopoly for years, France’s Pierre Castel now faces competition from Heineken which plans to open a brewery in 2008.

The spiral of violence

Chelsy Davy, the girlfriend of Britain’s Prince Harry, who was robbed at gunpoint in a Cape Town wine bar in September, may have been the most prominent victim of the latest series of attacks on bars and restaurants.

The have-lots, the haves and the have-nots

The “have-lots” and the “haves”, as Beer SA, the South African beer division of SABMiller, categorises them, have done very well out of the recent strong performance of the economy and have been the force behind the consumer boom, while the

Ties that bind

Portugal’s number one brewer Unicer is to invest EUR 150 million in the construction of a new brewery in the outskirts of the capital Luanda which shall come on-stream in 2008. The former Portuguese colony of Angola with its 13 million inhabitants is Unicer’s largest export market with 60 percent of its beer exports in 2005 being sold there. The brewery will have a production capacity of 700 000 hl in its initial phase, and 1.4 million hl at full capacity...