By: Nicola Mawson, Consumer Industries Correspondent


The world's largest brewer, SABMiller, said it aimed to save about $6m a year when a new can manufacturing plant being built by Nampak was up and running in Angola in the middle of next year.

SABMiller (SAB) has 75% of the soft-drink market in Angola and is planning to develop two new soft-drink plants there in the near future.

Its partner in the region, French brewer Castel, has 90% of the Angolan beer market.

Angola, with a population of 17,5-million, is seen as a key African market by the brewing titan. SABMiller anticipates its economy will grow at 23,6% this year after it was 19,6% last year.

Besides N'gola, SABMiller's main brands in the country are Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite.

SABMiller's expansion in Africa goes back to 1910 when South African Breweries invested in Zimbabwe. SAB, in the early 1980s, expanded into Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho, and in the 1990s into Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Angola, Mozambique and Ghana.

It invested in Angola in 1999 and grew its stake in 2001. Its pan-African alliance with Castel in 2001 aimed to give the firm more scope to grow in Africa.

The Nampak canning facility will produce up to 700-million cans a year and has been designed to allow a second line to meet future demands.

The facility will be built in Viana, a new industrial area near the capital Luanda.

The company estimates the Angolan beverage market uses more than 600-million cans a year. About 400-million are supplied from SA and the rest is sourced from overseas markets.

Nampak said spare capacity would meet growing demand in SA. CEO John Bortolan said the facility was one of the most significant greenfield investments in the company's history and was part of Nampak's R1,5bn growth investment strategy.

Source: Business Day

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[10 Apr 2008 07:29]

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