The long-awaited brewery in Okahandja to be built by SAB Miller took a concrete step towards fruition recently when the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Tjekero Tweya, officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new brewery. South Africa's leading brewer SAB Miller will invest N$420M in the facility. The plant, with a capacity of 260 hectolitres of beer/pa (Castle Lager, Caste Light and Carling Black Label), mainly for the Namibian market, will be situated in Okahandja's industrial area. "Namibia is strategically located in the S African region. Securing export markets is crucial for our nation to achieve sustainable economic growth," said Tweya as he encouraged SAB Miller to take advantage of Namibia's proximity to markets in neighbouring countries. The deputy trade minister noted that hte new brewery would promote Namibia's industrial policy, which was adopted by Parliament in 2012, and he encouraged SAB Miller to procure as many of their production inputs as possible locally. While SAB Miller's (Nambia) MD, Cobus Bruwer, confirmed that the brewery, which was first announced in 2010, would mainly serve the Namibian market, he did not rule out exporting the product to neighbouring countries. "This facility is mainly for the Namibian market, but we are looking at opportunities where geography will allow us to export," said Bruwer. Onyewu Investments will own 20% of the new brewery and three charitable trusts will own 20% with the remainder belonging to SAB Miller. The new plant will be one of SAB Miller's most environmentally-friendly and efficient breweries in the world and will even provide for the recycling of glass bottles and 750ml returnable bottles.
