By: Njiraini Muchira
2nd September 2011

Ethiopia’s government is set to dispose of the last State-owned beer manufacturer after completing the sale of two other brewers.

The Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) has put out a tender for Meta Abo Brewery, just days after completing the sale of Bedele Brewery and Harar Brewery to Dutch beer giant Heineken for $163-million.

“The government intends to sell 100% . . . of the enterprise to an investor or a group of investors . . . capable of operating and developing it,” says the PPESA.

Companies such as SAB-Miller, Denmark-based Carlsberg Brewery, BGI Ethiopia and SouthWest Development, which failed in their bid for Bedele and Harar, are seen as the leading contenders for Meta Abo.

Located about 20 km west of the capital, Addis Ababa, Meta Abo has assets worth $30-million and is the third-largest beer maker in Ethiopia, with a 16% market share, after BGI Ethiopia and Heineken. The brewer has a produc- tion capacity of 500 000 hℓ a year.

The sale of Meta Abo is expected to intensify com-petition in a market that has attracted unprecedented interest from foreign companies.

Ethiopia is Africa’s second- most populated country, with 85-million people, and its beer market has been growing at a rate of about 20% year over the past five years.

Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu