Exciting times for Zambian Breweries as Africa leads the way in the beer industry

Cracking open the African burgeoning beer market is a key aim for brewer AB InBev one year after its takeover of SABMiller.

Zambian Breweries is part of AB InBev, the largest brewer in the world, and forms an important part of the global giant’s plans.

Enjoying around a third of the world’s beer market, AB InBev is looking to further expand into the flourishing and exciting African marketplace.

Global beer consumption is growing fastest in Africa with the number set to increase by more than five percent between 2015 and 2020.

And while South Africa is the continent’s biggest customer with nearly 70 litres being consumed per person every year, beer is remarkably popular in Zambia where 10 litres are enjoyed per person on average over a 12-month period.

There are several reasons Africa is such an exciting market for AB InBev in the years to come:

• 20 percent of the world’s population will be African in the next 10 years;
• Africa has the world’s largest working-age population;
• The majority of drinkers coming of legal age within the next decade will be in Africa.

A third of female population has declared they occasionally drink beer while they represent 50 percent of the population in the continent. It is expected that Africa will represent approximately 8.1% of global beer industry by volumes by 2025, up from approximately 6.5% in 2016, with beer volumes in Africa expected to grow at nearly three times the rate of global beer volumes between 2016 and 2025.

And the company is placed to expand throughout the region.

Before the South African-founded SABMiller was taken over by AB InBev just over a year ago, the firm enjoyed the lion’s share of the beer business there as Africa’s biggest brewer.

A third of its profit came from beer sales there, it was present in 15 countries, it had 21 partnerships with local and international brands (including French company Castel) and 27 percent of its products were marketed there.

Zambian Breweries’ country director Jose Moran said: “These are exciting times for the African beer industry, which is worth US$13 billion and is now the world’s fastest-growing market.

“The continent remains key in the long term because of its fast-growing economies, urbanising and young population. We believe that, in GDP, the economies of African countries will grow at an average higher than the average of the world; resulting in a higher economic growth for our continent.

“Our excellent range of beer brands has long proven to be highly attractive to customers in Zambia and we will continue to brew the very finest products to ensure we stay at the very top of our game. In addition to our ambition to accelerate our growth in Zambia to become one of the biggest markets for ABInBev in Africa, we will continue promoting responsible drinking, protecting the environment and giving back to the communities where we live and work”