ANGOLA – Refriango, one of Angola’s leading producers and distributers of soft beverages, energy drinks and alcoholic beverages, has invested US$10m in the installation of a new filling line of returnable bottles for its Tigra beer brand.
The investment will enable the beverage maker to increase its filling capacity by 35%, meeting the rising demand of the beer in the country, reports Opais Angola.
The introduction of the returnable bottles in the market is in line with the company’s commitment to a circular economy by minimizing waste pollution in the environment.
Refriango owns a portfolio of 16 brands, some of which are market leaders in the segments in which they operate.
The company has one of the largest industrial units in the country with 42 hectares, 3800 workers, and state-of-the-art factories.
It has a production capacity of 1.9 billion liters per year and holds over 24 filling lines for all types of packaging that respond to more than 150 products.
According to Research and Markets, Angola’s beverage industry plays a key role in the country’s economy, contributing about 4% to GDP. Production meets about 90% of local demand of about 3 billion litres per year.
With installed capacity at over 4.5 billion litres per annum, there is plenty of room for the sector to expand.
Beer is the nation’s alcoholic beverage of choice and on average each Angolan consumes about 59 litres of it a year.
Angola continues with privatization process
Meanwhile, the government of Angola has approved CIF Lowendo Brewery as one of the companies to be privatized, among the recently listed five entities.
The other four included CIF Cement Company, Lda, CIF SGS Automóveis, Lda, CIF Logistica, Lda and Damer Gráficas – Sociedade Industrial de Artes Gráficas SA.
Prior to the announcement, the state indicated it had bagged a total of Akz 52 billion (US$82.7m) from the privatization of 3 state-owned breweries and 5 agro-livestock enterprises, under the Privatization Program (PROPRIV), coordinated by the Institute of Assets Management and State Participation (IGAPE).
Under the sale, government sold its stake in Cuca, Ngola and Eka breweries to BIH Angola Group, who plans to invest millions of dollars in the factories, to boost production and create more jobs.
The other offloaded agricultural farms include Cuimba (Bié), Longa (Cuando Cu-bango), Pungo Andongo (Malanje), Quizenga (Cuanza-Norte) and Sanza Pombo (Uíge).
The privatization program aims to drop 172 assets, and particular 100 state-owned companies and subsidiaries by the end of this year.
Despite the current Covid-19 pandemic, 39 assets have already been privatized under the scope of PROPRIV, at an estimated value of 380 billion kwanzas (US$578m).
The PROPRIV program is aligned with the National Development Program 2018-2022 and falls within the scope of Public Finance Reform, with a view to promoting macroeconomic stability.
It aims at increasing productivity and achieving a more equitable distribution of income.
In this perspective, the reduction of the State’s participation in the economy as a direct producer of goods and services and the promotion of favourable conditions for private initiative, foreign investment and the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills, are the guiding lines of the restructuring and resizing of the Public Business Sector.