Ethiopia: HEINEKEN officially inaugurates new brewery in Ethiopia

HEINEKEN officially inaugurated its new brewery at a greenfield site in Kilinto on the outskirts of Addis Ababa on January 15. In a ceremony attended by 300 guests including His Excellency the Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Mrs Charlene de Carvalho - Heineken and hosted by Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of HEINEKEN, the state of the art brewery was unveiled, Nasdaq reports.

With a total capacity of 1.5 mln hectolitres, the Kilinto brewery is already producing the recently launched Walia® beer together with Bedele® and Harar® beer brands. It is planned that the site will also brew other brands including the flagship Heineken® beer.

Employing around 280 people, drawn from the local workforce, the new facility complements the already established Bedele and Harar breweries which were acquired from the Ethiopian government in 2011. The EUR110 mln new brewery is part of a total EUR310 mln investment in the country by HEINEKEN since 2011.

With this enhanced production footprint, HEINEKEN Ethiopia will be well placed to further develop its portfolio of high quality beers that will meet growing demand in the country.

Speaking at the opening, Jean-François van Boxmeer commented: "Our inauguration marks the latest chapter in our Africa story which began over 100 years ago. Today, we are a proud partner for growth in the region, investing ahead of the curve, and with a long-term ambition to create sustainable businesses. This is certainly the case in Ethiopia, which is progressively unlocking its natural potential for its people, and bringing prosperity to both the cities and agricultural regions. Through our local barley sourcing project, we can be certain that the positive effects of our investment here spread well beyond the brewery gates. The CREATE project that we announced in 2013, where the partners share the goals of improving the income of smallholder barley farmers and improving access to markets, will help us to increase our local sourcing of malt barley."

16 January, 2015