Accra Brewery Limited (ABL), the local arm of AB InBev in Ghana, West Africa, will open a new $25 million bottling plant in the country’s capital Accra. The plant will have a capacity of 40,000 bottles a day and will be operational in in the second quarter of 2018.
“With the new equipment, we are able to increase our production levels to meet the demands of our consumers,” said Ms Adowoa Arthur, ABL Legal and Corporate Affairs Director. “We launched Stella Artois, a pale lager, onto the market in December last year, and introduced Beta Malt, our non-alcoholic malt beverage, in Returnable Glass Bottles,” she explained.
ABL was established in 1931 as Overseas Brewery registered in Switzerland and became West Africa’s first commercial brewery. In 1975, the assets of Overseas Breweries were taken over by the locally registered Accra Brewery (ABL). In 1997, SABMiller, then South African Breweries (SAB), acquired controlling shares of ABL. In 2015 the company doubled its production with a $100 million upgrade to its manufacturing facilities. In 2016 the company became part of AB InBev, when SAB Miller was bought by the world’s leading brewing company.
Ghana is one of the largest beer consuming countries in the African beer market although the per capita beer consumption at international level is still very low at 14.2 liters annually. According to BMI, beer volumes in Ghana will rise at an average rate of 14.5% per year, the fastest growth in sub-Saharan Africa region over the 2015-2020period. The huge market potential of many African countries was also considered as the main driver for AB InBev to purchase rival SAB Miller in 2016.
ABL is today one of the leading breweries in Ghana with brands like CLUBPremium Lager, Castle MilkStout, Eagle Extra Stout, Eagle Lager, Stone Strong Lager, Stella Artois, CLUB Shandy and the non-alcoholic malt brand, Beta Malt.
Strongest domestic rival is Guinness Ghana Breweries (GGBL), which was formed in 1991 and initially brewed only Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. Today the brewery produces a variety of beers, non-alcoholic malt drinks and RTD drinks. Last week GGBL launched a new beer made with over 70% local raw materials and blended with malt. The name ?dehye? is derived from Akan culture and tradition where a person of royal lineage or descent is referred to as “?dehye?.”
