SABMiller plans Namibian brewery

Beer giant SABMiller is investing in a new brewery in Namibia, with building scheduled to begin next month.

Photo Credit: David Parry/OneRedEye/SABMiller

The brewery will have a bottling capacity of 260,000 hectolitres and should be operational in 18 months.

Along with a bottle packaging line and warehousing facilities, the company has invested N$360 million.

The multinational has been importing its beers, most notably Castle Lager, into the south-west African country through Castle Brewing Namibia for more than 20 years.

The new facility will allow it to brew and bottle in the country. The plan has been in the pipeline since 2010, when SABMiller announced it was looking at a seven-hectare site north of the capital Windhoek but there were some problems with its acquisition.

SABMiller’s investment – part of its slated US$260m investment scheme for expansion across the continent – is the latest in a series of announcements from the major brewers regarding Africa.

Diageo and Heineken have all poured money into various projects on the continent over the past couple of years.

Diageo acquired Meta brewery in Ethiopia in January last year, while earlier this month Heineken announced plans for a 1.5m hectolitre brewery in Ethiopia (its third) which should open next year.