Tiret, an Ethiopian endowment fund is finalizing its new malt production plant in Gonder, Ethiopia. The factory is scheduled to go operational in June this year.

Gondar Malt Factory has been under construction for the past two years, on four hectares of land. The factory is expected to produce 16,200tns of malt a year, 12,000tns of which will be supplied to Dashen Brewery, one of the sister company in the endowment fund.

Increased international and local investment in Ethiopia’s breweries has increased the capacity of the five beer factories currently under operation, to four million hectolitres. This, in turn, has raised the demand for malt to 99,540tns, in 2011/12.

Until now, Ethiopia has only one malt factory in Assela, 164Km from the capital, which covers 36,000tns of the annual demand. The difference is imported, mainly from Holland and Germany.

Tiret hired a local construction company, Afro-Tsion Construction PLC, for the civil works.The company has now completed 86pc of the work including the construction of accessible roads and drainage. Plant procurement, installation and electro-mechanical works, on the other hand, were contracted to Buhler Gmbh, a German company, for USD 13.7 million.

Beer production is expected to grow significantly in the future, with the entry of new companies, such as; Raya, Zebidar and Habesha. In addition, foreign companies; Diego and Heineken, which have bought Meta, Bedele and Harar breweries respectively, have both announced expansion plans to increase production.

Source: Fortune