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Festival drinkers are encouraged to book tables of at least six people, and bring friends, family and work colleagues to enjoy sausages and live music washed down with beer served by a "dedicated Fraulein"/AFP

Kenya

Africa know-how makes SABMiller a good drinking partner

– ‘Juiciest asset’ –

SABMiller, which generates nearly a third of its profits from Africa, operates in 15 African countries, and has a stake in 22 others through a partnership with French drinks firm Castel.

Up-and-coming markets include Nigeria – the continent’s biggest economy – Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique and Uganda, where sales are all booming.

“Africa offers a young and fast-growing consumer base and an average annual consumption of nine litres of beer per person, against a global average of 45 litres,” Hilary Joffe, a financial analyst, wrote in the Business Day newspaper last week.

“Arguably the juiciest asset on the SAB table (is) its dominant position and deep experience in Africa, a continent in which AB InBev has no presence.”

But Africa will pose many challenges for AB InBev if it completes the $122 billion purchase of SABMiller, a London-listed company that has its roots in supplying beer to miners during the 1886 Johannesburg gold rush.

One major test for big brewers on the continent has been to draw locals away from cheap home-brews onto commercially-made beer.

To accommodate African tastes – and cut import and tax costs – SABMiller and others have launched beers made from cassava and sorghum, which are easily-grown local crops.

Bootleg alcoholic drinks cause regular deaths across the continent, such as the 75 people killed by poisonous beer served at a funeral in Mozambique in January.

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“Homemade alcohol products still dominate the African market, but they pose a significant health risk,” said Baker.

“This is an incentive for consumers to move away from ‘home brews’ and instead turn to commercial beer.”

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