First stone laid for construction of new CDM brewery

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First stone laid for construction of new CDM brewery

8:31 CAT | 10 Dec 2018

Photo: TVM

The Mozambican Minister of Industry and Trade, Ragendra de Sousa, on Friday laid the first stone for the construction of a new brewery in Marracuene district, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo.

The new brewery is owned by Cervejas de Mocambique (CDM – Beers of Mozambique), which is the local subsidiary of AB InBev, the world’s leading producer of beers. CDM already has three breweries in the country, in Maputo, Beira and Nampula.

Investment in the Marracuene brewery is estimated at 180 million dollars, and it will allow a significant increase in the company’s production. CDM says that the production at Marracuene will be highly efficient, and aligned ecologically with the most modern international practices. Doubtless at the back of the CDM management’s mind is the need to compete with the Dutch company Heineken, which is also building a brewery in Marrauene.

Speaking at the ceremony, Sousa said the brewery, in addition to increasing the Mozambican GDP, would have an important job creation impact. It would create 1,000 jobs during the construction phase: and since the average Mozambican household has five members that would mean income for 5,000 people.

Above all, said the Minister, the investment showed the confidence that national and foreign private business has in Mozambique and in the Mozambican government.

“They believe in our governance”, he claimed, “and this belief is not romantic, it’s because of the work we have done”. As evidence of the improving economy, Sousa cited the exchange rate of the Mozambican currency, the medical, which has been stable for more than a year.

The government, he added, is making efforts to ensure continual improvement in the business environment.

For his part, the CDM General Manager, Pedro Cruz, said the investment shows the responsibility the company has towards Mozambicans, by providing more modern equipment for beer production.

“This is without doubt the largest investment by CDM and by the beer sector in Mozambique since our foundation in 1995”, he said (CDM was created out of the privatisation that year of colonial era breweries).

He said the decision to invest in Marracuene was taken because of the availability of water (from the Incomati River), and its position on the country’s main north-south highway, which would allow easy distribution of the beer.

It will take about 12 months to build the brewery. Initially it will produce 200 million litres of beer a year.

Source: AIM