Times Of Swaziland: EBL TARGETS TO EXPORT 2.8M LITRES BEER TO SA

EBL TARGETS TO EXPORT 2.8M LITRES BEER TO SA
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Nhlanganiso Mkhonta on 15/04/2024 08:18:00


MBABANE – The Eswatini Beverages Limited (EBL) is set to gain from the
fast-growing beer demand in South Africa.
EBL Country Director Doreen Tumureebire has shared that towards the end of last
year, they were able to sort out some issues that were hindering the company’s
ambition to export to South Africa (SA). Tumureebire said as such their ambition
for this year is to export at least 28 000 hectoliters or 2.8 million litres of
beer to the neighbouring SA. She said that this translated to E30 million and
E10 million of that goes to tax. The director stated that they had already sent
5 000 hectoliters to SA since the beginning of the year and aimed to increase
that and reach the 28 000 hectoliters target. She said that specifically, they
were exporting Carling Black Label beer which was currently in high demand in
South Africa. She stated that due to that high demand, SA brewers were not able
to meet the demand and then EBL has come forward to say they have the capacity
to produce more.
Reduction
Tumureebire said in order to be able to export more to South Africa they have
called for the reduction of the export levy as other countries like Mozambique
had less which makes them able to export to SA, unlike Eswatini. It is worth
noting, that in 2023, Anheuser-Busch InBev reported record volumes, whereby a 20
per cent revenue growth in the sales of its flagship Carling Black Label beer
was behind its success in SA, which along with higher prices, helped contribute
to the group growing its revenue 13.2 per cent to US$14.2 billion (about R260
billion) to end March. The director added that they had opportunities to do
more; they just needed to partner with government to forge way forward. She
further mentioned that overall; the company has shown increase in terms of
volumes and revenues. She also touched on the company’s latest digitisation
strategy which has a focal point on automation and mobile payment platforms
which were flexible with most integration to deliver automated systems.
The company recently announced its partnership with MTN Eswatini and Standard
Bank in eliminating the handling of cash between itself as a product supplier
and vendors. Tumureebire said it was imperative that they encouraged their
customers to register and start using these payment solutions. “We all know
the advantages of new technologies and mobile payment systems. Using these
systems saves you time because you do not need to go to a bank,” she said.
“A transaction can be done conveniently anywhere. The systems are safe to use
and generally eliminate the handling of cash and associated risks.” The first
female EBL head further highlighted that inasmuch as they were looking forward
to growing the industry, they were equally concerned about the negative reports
about alcohol abuse.
She said in order to address that, they were still trying to educate consumers
about the dangers of alcohol abuse and underage drinking. He said they would be
conducting more roadshows to educate and caution users on issues of drink and
driving and selling to underage groups. Meanwhile, recent data indicated that
EBL paid a whooping E250 million in taxes in 2022, as the corporate giant
continued to contribute significantly to the local economic growth. The Oxford
Economics study on Eswatini’s economic beer impact revealed that two per cent
of the country’s national tax revenue came from economic activity linked to
the beer industry.
Revenue
It stated that about E450 million was generated in the form of tax revenues from
the beer business, which translated to about two per cent of government’s
total revenue. The study further mentioned that the sector supported E970.2
million gross value added (GVA) contribution to Eswatini’s gross domestic
product (GDP) in a year. This is equal to 1.2 per cent of national GDP or 7.8
per cent of Mbabane’s economy. Of the E970.2 million, E826.2 million comes
from Eswatini Beverages Limited and E144 million from the downstream value chain
created in the beer industry. A breakdown of the E338.4 million generated
revenue shows that the largest chunk came from beer sales tax, E95.4 million
from brewers and E18 million from the value chain.