Heineken officially commissions Ivory Coast brewery

Heineken officially opened its Ivorian brewery, Brassivoire, a joint-venture partnership between the Dutch brewer and CFAO.

The event was graced by top Ivorian government officials, including the Vice President, Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan and the Prime Minister, Mr. Amadou Gon Coulibaly. Also in attendance were the CEO of Heineken, Mr. Jean-Francois van Boxmeer and representatives of CFAO, among others.

The new brewery which is located north of Abidjan, the Ivorian Capital is said to have cost €150m ($160m) to construct and will produce 1.6m hectoliters of beer per year.

The first beer unofficially rolled off the line in November. The plant will produce Ivoire for the local market using local rice as well as malted barley. Heineken will also import Heineken brand and Desperados to offer consumers premium brands alongside the new Ivoire.

Van Boxmeer said: “The construction of this new brewery puts the finishing touch to the Heineken Company’s entry into Cote I’Voire. It marks a major milestone in our regional strategy, showing that Africa is full of opportunities and very much part of the company’s future growth.”

The joint-venture which began in 2015 is 51% owned by Heineken and 49% held by CFAO. Both companies have been partnering in other ventures in Africa going back 20 years, starting in Congo-Brazzaville.

CFAO is a French-based firm with operations in 34 African countries and French Overseas territories. While the firm is based in France, it is 97.5% owned by Japanese conglomerate Toyota Tsusho Corp.

The Ivorian beer market has a per capita consumption of 11.8 litres, with beer consumption projected to grow by 6.7% per year until 2020, reaching a total beer market of nearly 3.2 million hectoliters.

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