Zambia's first malting plant set for commissioning

Zambia's first malting plant which will enable locally grown barley to be processed into malt, the main ingredient for clear beer, is ready for commissioning, the company behind the investment said on Tuesday.

The malting plant, constructed by the country's biggest brewer, Zambia Breweries, was ready for commissioning following successful testing of its barley acceptance systems.

"The future of Zambia and its economic development matters to us. The plant will enable Zambian Breweries to add value within Zambia to barley- all of which is bought from local farmers in Zambia," Annabelle Degroot, the company's managing director said in an emailed statement.

"Previously, we used to export our barley to neighboring Zimbabwe for malting and them import it back to Zambia," said Degroot.

According to her, the company's upswing in investment was due to the confidence it has in the country's investment climate as seen in government's move to reduce excise tax on clear beer from 60 to 40 percent.

The 33 million U.S. dollars malting plant was part of the company's continuing investment plan into Zambia and was set to boost its purchase of barley from local farmers, she added.

The brewery firm is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), which also owns National Breweries and Heinrich's Syndicate in Zambia. The group has invested more than 400 million dollars in long-term capital projects in the last five years.

The plant, situated at a multifacility economic zone in Lusaka, the country's capital, has a maximum capacity of 15,000 tons of finished malt per year, creating a surplus over the brewery's current demand of 10,000 tons and thus producing excess supply for the export market. Endit