Namibia Breweries Limited’s (NBL) beer exports amounted to N$747 million in 2023, a testimony that Namibia Breweries meaningfully contributes towards the socio-economic development of the country and thus the social upliftment of Namibians, NBL Board Chairman Vetumbuavi Mungunda has said.
Mungunda, who was speaking at NBL’s opening of the new wine line last week, said that as part of brewing a better Namibia in a sustainable and responsible way, NBL has been recognised by external business players and government stakeholders alike.
“For instance, NBL was awarded the highest contributor of tax and excise by the Namibia Revenue Agency in April this year. To be exact, that’s an amount of N$800 million and a further N$1.6 billion towards total corporate taxes, customs, and excise paid out last year,” he said.
NBL unveiled its N$337-million wine packaging line in a strategic move to expand production capacity and diversify its brand portfolio.
The company allocated an additional N$44 million to enhance its existing packaging lines. This upgrade will allow the brewery to produce and package popular ciders such as Savanna and Hunters locally for the first time. Additionally, the brewery’s extended warehouse, covering 4,400 sq m, represents an investment of N$56 million.
“With regards to our new wine line and cider production, customs and excise previously paid in South Africa will now be paid in Namibia. The local bottling and packaging of the wine will deepen the country’s skill sets and knowledge base relating to the portfolio of beverages and other manufactured products.
“Great strides have also been achieved in the environmental sphere, where NBL was once again recognised as one of the Top 3 nominees and the only brewery in the Namibia Sustainability Development Awards held in June this year. The business is strongly committed to growing in a sustainable and responsible way for generations to come. We believe that we only progress when our people, our country, and our communities thrive,” Mungunda said, adding, “We have a responsibility, as the current leadership and workforce of Namibia Breweries, to build on what was given to us by the previous generation, improve on it, and leave it in a better and improved state. This is a responsibility we are acutely aware of and will remind ourselves of every day. Together with my fellow directors, we commit to being a strong partner for growth and positively impacting the communities we operate in.”
At the event, Peter Simons, Managing Director of NBL, commented, “Today’s milestone reflects our unwavering commitment to Namibia’s economic growth. The new wine packaging line enriches our brand’s portfolio, allowing us to offer a diverse range of beverages beyond beer, including wine, cider, and spirits, as well as low- and non-alcoholic options, to our customers and consumers.”.
The wine line project, which commenced in April 2023, was successfully completed ahead of schedule by a dedicated supply team and 19 suppliers, 11 of whom were Namibian, with an average of 180 contractors on site.
NBL has employed 16 new permanent operators overseeing the wine packing process and offered permanent positions to 23 temporary staff members in packaging and a further 8 in logistics and distribution.
“One such development is, of course, the wine and cider production, which is built on the solid foundation arising from the transaction entered with the HEINEKEN Group about 18- months ago. A subsect of the transaction entered into included the acquisition by Namibia Breweries of the Namibian operations of Distel for N$1 billion. This transaction added much value to the competitive capabilities of Namibia Breweries, which will include leveraging the HEINEKEN global expertise, networks, and scale and combining that with the local insights built over some 100 years to take our beloved Windhoek brand onto the next phase of growth and set the business forward to a positive trajectory.
“The above transaction was also significant with respect to our country’s foreign direct investment, with an amount of close to N$9.2 billion injected into the country’s economy in April 2023. A key part of the business case embodying the transaction with HEINEKEN was the benefits of local production of the cider and wine products from the Distel portfolio, which included expansion to existing buildings, infrastructure, and equipment at an amount of about N$500 million with favourable projected returns, not just for the business but for the country as well.”