National Alcohol Set for 400 Million Br Renovation, Expansion

Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)

By Elias Gebreselassie

2 May 2011

National Alcohol & Liquor Factory is set for a 400 million Br renovation and expansion of its three plants, to start in July 2011.

The plants are located near Awash Wine Factory on Guinea Bissau Street in Mekanissa and near D’Afrique Hotel on Ras Wolde Mikael Street in Mexico as well as in Sebeta Town, 24km west of the capital in Oromia Regional State.

The project will give the ageing machinery and buildings “a facelift,” according to Mesfin Abate, acting general manager of the factory and general manager of the Mekanissa plant. The machines at the Mexico plant will be rehabilitated and incorporated with the Mekanissa plant, while the one in Sebeta, which consists of a distillery and liquor plant, will be rehabilitated, according to Mesfin.

“With the expansion of the Mekanissa plant, 12,500sqm will be added to the existing 5,000sqm plot it occupies, while the Mexico section will be turned into a retail centre,” Mesfin told Fortune. “We expect the 4.5 million litres of liquor and the 1.8 million litres of pure alcohol that are annually produced by the factory to increase to 10.3 million litres and 4.3 million litres, respectively. This would increase our market share from 42pc at present to over 60pc.”

National Alcohol & Liquor Factory, which was established when three previously private liquor factories were nationalised in 1976, earned 130 million Br in the 2009/10 fiscal year and expects this amount to increase by more than three million Birr this year.

The factory produces 96pc alcohol for uses ranging from medical purposes to electronic equipment cleaning, and 13 different kinds of liquor ranging in alcohol content from 15pc to 45pc. It recently started exporting to Southern Sudan and the United States (US), after fulfilling the latter’s bottling and labelling requirements.

In a feasibility study conducted 18 months ago, the project was estimated to cost around 289 million Br, but the devaluation of the Birr against a basket of major currencies and inflation since, have seen the sum increase.

Construction Design SC has been contracted to design and supervise the construction of the project for a little over 2.8 million Br.

The construction of renovation and expansion is to be finished by the end of the next Ethiopian year. The entire project, including the purchase and establishment of new machinery, is to be completed a year later.

Following the completion of the project, an additional 130 staff members are expected to be added to the existing 570 permanent and temporary employees of the factory, which formerly had a small branch in Akaki that has since been closed.

Baro’s Dry Gin and Ouzo Araqe are the factory’s biggest sellers, according to Mesfin.

The factory plans to introduce two new flavoured araqes to the market. Coffee Araqe is set to be unveiled for the Dagmawe Tensae holiday held on Sunday, May 1, 2011, and Orange Araqe to be on the market by the end of the year.

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