Raya Brewery S.C. inaugurated the plant it built in Northern Ethiopia, Tigray State Maichew Town. The inauguration ceremony took place in the capital of the state, Mekele.

Construction of the factory took only a year and it has a capacity of producing 700,000 hectoliters of beer per annum.

Raya was established back in April 2014 between 58 shareholders which includes Tsadkan Gebretinsae, former army chief of staff, and Ambachew Abreha, head of the then Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL). Currently the number of shareholders has grown to 2,441.

Constructing the factory and acquiring the machineries started after shareholders raised 600 million Birr and obtained a grant of 910 million Birr loan from Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).

Different international companies have joined the Ethiopian beer industry In the recent years. Diageo, a premium drinks Business Company, bought Meta Abo Brewery S.C. for USD 250 million back in 2009. Heineken has also found its way to the Ethiopian market and in fact has inaugurated a new factory in the capital city just a few
months ago.

Source: Fortune