Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest beer producer, has said that opened a new $180 million brewery in Mozambique.
The new site has a capacity of 2.4 million hectolitres per year, with potential to expand that to 6.7 million.
Located in Marracuene, 30 km north of the capital Maputo, it represents the biggest investment in the sector in Mozambique.
The Heineken group began producing beer in Mozambique in 2019 at a $100 million factory, also in Marracuene, with a production capacity of 800,000 hectolitres per year.
The new AB InBev facility was built from scratch. It employed more than two thousand Mozambicans during the construction phase, and currently employs over 200 people on a permanent basis.
It will be operated by its subsidiary, the Mozambican brewery Cervejas de Mocambique (CDM).
'Modern Factory'
Tomaz Salomao, President of CDM, called it "the biggest and (most) modern factory in the country and in Africa", adding that it aimed to supply markets throughout the region.
The new facility will produce 80,000 bottles per hour, Salomao said. He also announced that the AB InBev subsidiary would donate $1 million for the country to buy COVID-19 vaccines.
AB InBev paid around $100 billion in 2016 to acquire rival group SABMiller. It now produces two of the most popular beer brands in Mozambique – 2M and Laurentina.
In February of this year, Anheuser-Busch InBev forecast 'meaningfully' better 2021 earnings after sales in Brazil and Mexico and a large tax credit inflated profits of the world's largest brewer at the end of 2020.
