E5.7BN LIQUOR PROJECT FOR ESWATINI

MBABANE  – One of the noticeable diplomats in the global political space was in the country for an investment project that will benefit the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Widely known in the United Kingdom and USA, Jean Pillard, the former Ambassador of Haiti to the United Kingdom met several stakeholders that included Eswatini Sugar Association (ESA) over an alcoholic beverage project valued at E5.7 billion. He wants to set up a plant in Eswatini, an investment that will, for a start, create 300 jobs.  

beverage

Pillard was in the country a fortnight ago. His business interest is in rum, an alcoholic beverage. Rum is an alcoholic beverage made from sugar cane. It is made from 100 per cent cane products that include raw cane juice, white or brown cane sugar, cane syrup, evaporated cane sugar and cane molasses. Rum is distilled under 95 per cent alcohol by volume. For it to be legally considered a rum beverage, the finished product should be a minimum of 37.5 per cent in European Union countries and 40 per cent in the United States of America; making it a strong spirit. ARK Behavioural Health warns about over-proof rum. The USA-based organisation states that a rum with an ABV (alcohol by volume) of about 57.5 per cent is not good.
This means that it has to be at least 114-115 proof. This is much higher than regular rum, which has an ABV of 40 per cent or 80 proof.

dangerous

Overproof rum is popular in the Caribbean. Brands like J. Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum, Bacardi, and Cruzan can go up to 75.5 per cent ABV or 151 proof. This makes for a very strong drink that can be dangerous in large quantities. Because of its strength, it’s most often used in mixed drinks like daiquiris although some people drink it straight. Because the US has a limit on the proof of alcohol that can be shipped from another country, any overproof rum one finds is probably going to be in the 150 proof range. Some over-proof rums include Bacardi 151, Hampden Estate Rum Fire Overproof, Lemon Hart 151, Smith & Cross, Gosling’s 151, and Worthy Park Overproof.

History Of Overproof Rum

This rum originally got its name when British Royal Navy officers used to test the quality of the rum by using gunpowder. If the gunpowder still lit up after being soaked in rum; that meant it was of high quality and plenty strong. This is why some over-proof rums are also advertised as ‘navy strength’ or gunpowder proof. How is overproof rum made? Most rum produced today is made with sugar cane and goes through a distillation process to remove any of the impurities. This leads to a spirit that is anywhere from 160-190 proof. Normally, the alcohol is diluted through aging and blending to bring it down to 80 proof. It has been established that Pillard is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Crosswave LLC, a US investment group that has interest in investing in the African region.

He is a Haitian national, who previously served as Haiti’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom (UK) and Northern Ireland, where his focus was restarting diplomatic relations between Haiti and the UK after over half a century of strained relations. He facilitated the creation of the first ever Haitian Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain, where he served as Chairman. With over 25 years of experience in the private and public sectors, Pillard currently serves as President of Life Skills Haiti, a non-profit organisation that focuses on vocational education in Haiti’s countryside. In August 19, 2022, he was announced as Pure Water for the World (PWW) new Board member. He confirmed, through his agent, that he was in the country to assess business opportunities.  He also confirmed that Pillard was interested in investing in the country. He said the project was valued at US$300 million (about E5.7 billion).

confirmed

His visit to the country was further confirmed by Dudu Dlamini, who explained that the former ambassador came to the country on invitation by an entity known as the Organisation for Women in International Trade Eswatini. Dlamini is also a member of this organisation. She said Pillard was on a fact-finding mission for possible investment opportunities. “Appointments were set up with government companies and private institutions including Eswatini Sugar Association (ESA) and the Sugar Growers Association,” she said. She said a majority of the institutions honoured the invitation. Dlamini said the meetings were conducted in a professional manner. “To the best our knowledge, all the institutions presented us with all the information and officials were very helpful to the extent of giving us advice and approaches towards successful investment opportunities,” she said. She said they were introduced to the ambassador, as an investor, by his agent and they facilitated his invitation to the country through Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Excellence

She said Pillard’s investment ambitions were divided into three with the rum project being the most expensive one. She said the other two areas were a construction of a centre of excellence in diplomacy and public relations. The value of this project could not be ascertained. Dlamini said it transpired from their engagement with the investor that the centre of excellence was meant to assist the country in countering misinformation and the spread of propaganda. “He mentioned that according to his study, the country was found wanting on issues of PR, with social media taking charge in the 2021 political unrest. The centre of excellence would help the country to rebut false information, hence he met different industry players such as the University of Eswatini and others,” she said. Dlamini further stated that the investor intended to invest in the sector of health. She said he also mentioned that it was time the country derived some wealth from the health sector. She said Pillard was looking for opportunities to expand on it.

investment

However, they were not able to get to anyone on the sector until the investor went back. Information gathered from the investor’s agent, who requested not to be mentioned, was that a hospital investment worth over US$39 million (E741million) was being discussed after receiving a interest from a local businessman. The urgent thanked ESA for an informative meeting and briefly stated that the investor was coming back to finalise the rum plant project and the hospital. “We are grateful that there is light at the end of the tunnel. There has been a lot of misinformation already but we are hoping that this article will set the record straight. The investor is very keen and Eswatini is strategically placed to be a base for the investments that are targeting the African continent,” said the agent. ESA CEO Banele Nyamane confirmed that they met with the investor who had appointment booked Dlamini. He said Dlamini was the intermediary the delegation was requested to submit a formal request, with a clear business plan and details of the specific product they required from ESA. He said this was met to allow ESA to fully appreciate their request and consider it accordingly.

approve

He said ESA was not in a position to approve or reject private investment proposals and the investor retained the sole prerogative to go ahead with the project or not. Nyamane said ESA was confined on the expected input required from ESA. “It is in ESA’s interest to ensure that a viable project is being proposed so that whatever decision it makes, it ensures that its interests for future business are taken care of. This is more-so since there is high demand for the sugar and molasses, with most of it already committed in any case. ESA supplies a number of products such as refined sugar, VHP Sugar, raw sugar and molasses. Before we can commit to supplying a customer, we need to assess our current commitments and capacity to deliver,” he said. Nyamane added that they requested the investor to supply ESA with adequate details of the project and to put it all in a proposal form. He emphasised that they were looking forward to feedback from the investor in order to advise accordingly. He said ESA’s mandate is to promote the development of the sugar industry in the country, through providing technical services and marketing products such as sugar and all its by-products.

support

“We do have policies that focus on supporting investments that will add value to the sugar industry products (sugar and molasses in the current instance) in the country. We remain open to consider and support such initiatives, subject to ESA having the capacity to supply the required product,” added Nyamane. According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, post forecasts sugar cane production in Eswatini were expected to increase by 1.5 per cent to 5.6 million metric tonnes in the 2023/24 financial period, based on increased available irrigation water, expanded planted area, and a return to trend yields. Post forecasts sugar production will increase by four per cent, to 652 057 metric tonnes in 2023/24, based on an expected rebound in the volume of sugar cane deliveries to mills and improvement in the recovery rate. Eswatini was fully expected to fully utilise its allocated USA tariff rate quota in 2023/24 and 2022/23.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: