ETHIOPIA – Kangaroo Plast Plc, a family-owned business group with diverse interests, has invested US$52.34 million in setting up a new brewery plant in Ethiopia.

According to Ephrem Yirga, Board Chairman of United Brewery and Kangaroo Plast, the new multimillion plant has a production capacity of 1.6 million hectoliters and 800,000 hectoliter packaging capacity a year, reports New Business Ethiopia.

Ephrem said that the new plant features modern technology whose whole production system is fully integrated with SAP technology and has modern waste management and treatment plant that seeks to enhance highly efficient operation in the plant.

“We used the most advanced technology of the industry. We used the technology of a well-known machine manufacturing German company known as Krones.

The company has solely done all the manufacturing and installation of the machines,” he said.

The new brewery, which is realized with the venture of United African Beverages, is set to create about 230 job opportunities which according Ephrem, Kangaroo Plast has selected the best and well experienced partner in the brewery industry to penetrate into the beer market of Ethiopia.

 “…We have also allocated enough budgets to undertake corporate social responsibility activities benefiting the societies and the environment around the brewer.

We are so lucky to find high-quality groundwater, which doesn’t need that much treatment.

Modjo is a very strategic location for us to easily access Addis Ababa market as well as the central part and south eastern markets of the country,” he explained.

Kangaroo Plast has a greater focus on investments in the beverage and manufacturing sector in the country running several companies.

Over the past years the beer market in Ethiopia has been growing attracting many investors as they seek to capitalise on the increasing demand across the beverage sector.

Markedly, Distell Limited Group, a South African based wine and spirits producer, unveiled plans of making entry into the country as part of its African expansion plan.

However, the investments come at a time when the beverage industry in the country is adjusting to the new proposed law which will see the ban of advertisements of beverages with less than 10pc alcoholic content on any of the broadcast media.

Currently the alcoholic beverage segment is dominated by; Heineken, Diageo, Dashen, BGI Ethiopia and Habesha breweries as the major players in the market producing different brands such as Bedele Beer, Dashen Beer, Walia Beer, St.George Beer, Habesha Beer.