International brewers are helping transform Ethiopia’s business
landscape as it slowly sells the assets of the former communist state and opens
up to foreigners drawn to one of Africa’s fastest growing economies.
Heineken, Diageo and privately-owned Dutch brewer Bavaria, have
snapped up state breweries or built new ones in the past four years,
introducing new beverages and increasing competition for St George, Ethiopia’s
oldest beer brand, that was itself bought by France’s Castel Group in 1998.
The east African nation that once could not feed itself now draws
investors keen to profit from the increasing prosperity of its 96 million
people.
“We recognise the huge potential in Ethiopia,” Diageo said in a
statement e-mailed to Reuters. It bought state-owned Meta Abo brewery for $225
million in 2012 and has doubled brewing capacity and invested in new brands. It
launched Zemen Beer in December and non-alcoholic Malta Guiness in August 2013.
Heineken bought state-owned Bedele and Harar Breweries for a
combined $163 million in 2011, introducing the Walia beer, which bar staff in
Addis Ababa say is catching up St George.
A few years ago, small bars struggled to get hold of crates of St
George as they were bought up by hotels or bigger restaurants but Castel has
increased brewing capacity, meaning they are now readily available.
Prices have dropped as a result of the extra competition and
supply. A St George bottle sells for 15 birr ($0.75) at Mery’s Pub, down from
18 birr in December.
“We have variety now for our customers — and more supply,” said
Meron Girma, who runs the pub in a small shack with a corrugated iron roof next
to the capital’s increasingly affluent Bole Medhane Alem district.
