NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 11 – Unpredictable taxes and policies have been cited as key inhibitors to investment in Kenya’s beer industry.
EABL Group Corporate Relations Director Eric Kiniti said the high initial capital requirements make stability in taxation critical for investors.
“It requires billions of shillings to implement an investment in the sector, and investors need to know when they will recoup their money,” Kiniti said in an interview with Capital FM.
“The last time we made a huge investment in Kenya was in 2017, when we spent about Sh13 billion on the Kisumu Brewery. Payback takes five to seven years, which is money you borrow. You don’t want to borrow to invest in something without knowing whether the payback will be seven, 20, or 25 years.”
Kiniti welcomed the recent cut in beer taxes after years of annual hikes but noted the absence of a predictable framework.
“The concern is that we do not know what will happen next year because there is no coherent tax policy. In Tanzania, tax increases happen every three years, allowing investors to plan. Here, we don’t have that certainty,” he said.
