Over the next 5 years, SAB Miller plans on spending $2.5 billion in Africa over the next 5 years. Annual investments will be in the neighborhood of $500 million. The cash will build breweries and revamp the ones currently in operation. The last quarter of 2011 saw an 11% increase in sales volume, and the SAB thinks it’s time to jump in with both feet.
Back in 2010, SAB started producing a lager (Imperial Lager) brewed with cassava, a root vegetable that is plentiful in Africa. Cassava is used as a partial substitute expensive barley. The beer hit shelves last year. Imperial Lager is quite beneficial to the farmers in the region growing Cassava.
Another beer- Chibuku, is based off a popular African home brew made with corn and sorghum. Chibuku has a nickname – “Shake Shake,” because the you need to shake the beer prior to drinking. That beer is even cheaper than the lager (mentioned above), which is great for an economic climate where beer is a luxury. SAB Miller wants to elevate beer to a social beverage like other countries around the world, not a status symbol.
Annual African beer consumption is just over 2 gallons a year. In the United States, the average is around 18 gallons.
Full Story – Reuters
