SABMiller to begin construction of brewery in Namibia in April this year

SABMiller announces a US$40 million investment in a new 260,000 hectolitre brewery in Namibia as part of its strategy to expand its operations across Africa. The company expects to break ground on the new site in early April this year and the brewery is expected to be operational in the latter half of 2014.

After some delay, the company recently received approval for the re-zoning of 7.2 hectares of land in Okahanjda where the brewery will be built and transfer of the land is expected in the next few weeks. The brewery will be designed to accommodate future growth and capacity expansion. In addition, the company plans to invest in a returnable bottle packaging line and warehousing facilities.

SAB Managing Director, Mauricio Leyva, said the project had reached an important milestone: “We are most pleased that we are now going to be moving ahead with the construction of the brewery.

“The local brewery will not only enable us to make more of our key brands available to consumers in the Namibian market, but it will also make a meaningful contribution to the Namibian economy once it is up and running.

“Jobs will be created, our environmental impact on the country will be reduced as we shift to returnable bottles and we will build on our existing programmes to uplift the local community.”

SABMiller has a long history in Namibia, having imported beers from South Africa to service the local market for more than two decades. The company has an estimated 22% of the local market, with popular brands including Castle Lager, Carling Black Label and Castle Lite. These will be brewed on the new site in Okahanjda.

In 2010, SABMiller announced the establishment of SABMiller Nambia (Pty) Ltd to house its operations in Namibia. The entity reports as part of South Africa Breweries Limited (SAB Ltd), SABMiller’s wholly-owned South African business.

SABMiller Namibia is 60% owned by SAB Ltd and 40% by local Namibian partners comprising 20% Onyewu Investments (Pty) Ltd and 20% by three charitable trusts for the benefit of local communities.