General
Nigeria Leads 10 Biggest Beer Drinking Countries
By Dipo Olowookere
The list of top 10 biggest beer drinking countries in Africa has been released by a market research group called Global Data, formerly known as Canadean and the lead spot was occupied by Nigeria, the most populous nation in the continent.
As a result of its population, Nigeria led the chart with 12.28 litres of beer consumed per year.
Beer makes up just 16 percent of alcohol consumption in Nigeria, while other drinks make up 84 percent due to the high popularity of home-brewed beverages.
Africa is by far the fastest growing region for beer consumption and research showed that over 5 percent annual growth of beer consumption in Africa, compared with 3 percent for Asia and less than 1 percent for Western Europe.
“There is untapped potential,” Global Data Analyst Andrew Curran said, noting that although, Ivory Coast is outside the top 10 beer consuming countries in Africa, it is showing more or less matching growth rates to the top 10.
Nigeria is being followed on the top 10 beer consuming countries in Africa by Uganda, which consumes 11.93 litres per year; Botswana is third, with 7.96 litres per year, leaving Kenya in the fourth position, with 9.72 litres per year.
While Namibia and Burundi consume 9.62 litres per year and 9.47 litres per year, respectively, South Africa and Gabon consume 9.46 litres per year and 9.32 litres per year, respectively.
Rwanda consumes 9.10 litres of beer per year, while Tanzania consumes 7.7 litres of beer per year.
However, Global Data’s research identified Ivory Coast as one of the continent’s most dynamic economies, with annual growth of over 8 percent, and her beer market is also expected to expand.
“The Ivory Coast is outside the top 10 beer consuming countries in Africa, but it is showing more or less matching growth rates to the top 10,” the report said, adding that Ivory Coast has also gained importance since the recent merger between rivals SAB Miller and InBev.
According to Curran, SAB Miller and InBev have consolidated their dominance in South Africa and forced Heineken to focus on the francophone West.
He believes that success in the Ivory Coast could lead to further gains in the region, such as in Burkina Faso and Benin,
Global Data’s report of Ivory Coast’s push to the top 10 biggest beer drinking countries in Africa came on the heels of Dutch multinational Heineken’s investment of $160 million in the West African country’s beer market.
Heineken recently launched a new brewery named Brassivoire in association with distribution specialists CFAO on the outskirts of the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan.
The $160 million state-of-the-art facility has capacity to produce 160 million liters of beer a year. The brewery will produce Heineken Ivoire beer, the result of extensive research into local tastes.
Brassivoire has around 200 highly-skilled local employees, who have received over 3000 hours of training between them, according to General Manager Alexander Koch.
The Dutch beer giant Heineken, which is the world’s second largest brewer, is targeting the Ivory Coast, and has said that its Ivoire brand has been well received and intends to scale up production.
The vast majority of beer consumers in Ivory Coast are provided by French company Castel Groupe, which owns popular brands including Solibra, Flag and Castel. Castel Groupe previously held near monopoly on Ivorian beer market.
However, with the inauguration of a new $160 million state-of-the-art plant, Heineken has made an ambitious play for the fast-growing Ivorian beer market.
“It (Ivory Coast) has a young population, a high rate of urbanization – almost 50 per cent already – a dynamic economy and there is only one player so far,” says Heineken CEO Jean-Francois Van Boxmeer.
What this means is that the battle for the soul of Ivory Coast’s beer market may have commenced. Already, Heineken believes its new Ivoire beer can eat into Castel’s market share, with its relatively low price and a product designed for local consumers.
“We researched for years,” Koch said, adding, “We developed the bottle, the name, the color code, even the recipe together with the Ivorian consumer.”
He said the new beer has performed well so far, and production will soon increase. “The Ivoire brand has had an incredibly good reception from the Ivorian consumer,” Koch stated, adding, “We are currently running at full capacity and will bring forward some of our investments to meet demand.”
Source: The Nation
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukayode, has urged the National Assembly to speedily pass the Unexplained Wealth Bill.
Mr Olukayode made the appeal at the ongoing National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance, organised by the Senate and House of Representatives Public Accounts Committees on Thursday.
“Help me pass the Unexplained Wealth Bill, I’ve been begging for the past one year. This same bill was thrown out in the last Assembly. If we don’t make individuals accountable for what they have, we’ll never get it right,” he pleaded.
The bill seeks to go after Nigerians with no known source of wealth or with illicit means of gathering wealth.
Speaking at the event, he said the anti-graft has mounting evidences of people living above their means and there was no clear-cut law holding them accountable.
“In the last three weeks, we started a commission-wide investigation into the extractive industry, particularly the oil and gas sector. What we have discovered is mind-boggling.
“We have only just opened the books. So much more corruption is to be unraveled. If this is what we’re seeing at the surface, imagine what lies beneath.
“There is a very strong connection between the mismanagement of our resources and insecurity.
“When you look at banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, trace it back, and you will find a pattern of corrupt practices and diversion of funds that were meant to improve people’s lives.
“Someone has worked in a ministry for 20 years. We calculate their entire salary and allowances. Then we find five property , two in Maitama, three in Asokoro. Yet, we’re told to go and prove a predicate offence before we can act. That is absurd,” he said.
The EFCC boss urged all Nigerians to put aside creed, politics and ethnic sentiments to block revenue leakage and save the economy of the country.
Mr Olukayode also said that Nigerians should not fail to take advantage presented by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to block revenue leakage as it could spell doom for the country.
According to him, no amount of capacity will be able to recover half of the resources stolen from Nigeria as many host countries are not willing to repatriate.
He said that the best option was to prevent corruption saying that failure to do so, corruption would kill the country.
By Bon Peters
Officers and men of the Port Harcourt Area 11, Onne Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have been charged to always ensure legitimate trade is facilitated.
This charge was given by the Zonal Coordinator of NCS Zone C, Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) SK Dangladima, during a visit to the command on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He hinted that the core mandate of the agency was to collect revenue, facilitate trade and suppress smuggling, stressing that personnel should ensure that legitimate trade is facilitated, while customs brokers or agents must avoid wrong declaration.
“Let’s facilitate legitimate trade,” he declared.
Speaking on the staff training, he noted that going forward; promotion would be based on improvement on staff educational qualification.
“I advise you to go for junior or senior courses at Gwagwalada to improve yourself because promotion will be based on merit as customs is in a new era and for you to be promoted going forward, you must have passed through your junior or senior courses at Gwagwalada,” he posited.
On the movement of containers to bonded terminals, he emphasized that containers on transire should be escorted to their destinations without diversion while insisting that containers should not be delayed.
“Containers on transire should be escorted and make sure they reach their destinations. Please don’t delay containers. Work together and be your brother’s keeper,” the customs officer stated.
While speaking on the inter-agency collaboration, he said that other agencies involved in the examination and release of containers should be handy at all time to avoid unnecessary delays and ensure that containers are released in good time.
He scored Onne Customs Command Controller, Mr Mohammed Babandede, high on revenue generation, urging the stakeholders to assist in making sure that command achieves its revenue target for the year 2025.
Earlier in his address, Mr Babandede thanked his guest for the visit, assuring him that the revenue target for the year should be met.
He also informed him of some challenges his command was facing, including accommodation, operational vehicles, and the newly introduced B’odogwu platform, which he said has been having migration issues from Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) to B’odogwu most of the time as a result of network failure.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has taken steps to fix a visa policy after the United States reduced the validity of its non-immigrant visa for Nigerians to three months from five years.
The Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, met with the United States ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Richard Mills, over the recently introduced visa procedures by the US government for Nigerians.
Mr Tunjo-Ojo in a statement on Wednesday, a day after the US announced a major change to its visa policy for Nigeria, said, “Our government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu (GCFR), will continue to ensure strict compliance across the board in key areas, including secure travel documents, ensuring the issuance of secure travel documents with verified traveller identities. Visa overstay management: Implementing measures to limit overstays by travellers on US visas.”
According to the Minister, the gathering was aimed at strengthening ties between Nigeria and the US through a well-structured visa framework.
He said the recently introduced visa procedures by the US government for Nigerian nationals were discussed during the meeting.
Mr Tunji-Ojo stated said the US ambassador provided “valuable insights into the revised protocol and its alignment with established practices to uphold the integrity of the visa process.”
“The ambassador described the new e-visa policy of the Nigeria Immigration Service as an innovation intended to streamline and enhance the application process for foreign travellers into the country,” he stated.
“The Ministry of Interior, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and the US Mission in Nigeria agreed to strengthen collaboration, emphasizing adherence to visa regulations and promoting responsible travel practices among Nigerian citizens.
“Information sharing: Sharing relevant security and/or criminal record information to protect public safety,” the minister added.
In its reciprocal policy, the US said nearly all non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to Nigerian citizens will now be single-entry and valid for only three months, adding that this is part of a global reciprocity realignment, a sharp shift from previous visa terms, which often allowed for multiple entries over two years or more.
Nigeria also offers single-entry visas valid for three months only for those planning to visit the country from the US.
Business Post reports that Nigeria has no ambassador to the US, under President Bola Tinubu.
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