KSh 14 Billion investment in Kisumu Brewery has created nearly 100,000 Jobs
Immediate former Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri when he toured the Kenya Brewery plant in Kisumu last year.The Company has helped in creating nearly 100,000 jobs of which half of such jobs have been taken by women.-File Photo.
By
Dickson Odhiambo
January
15, 2020
KSh
14 Billion investment in Kisumu Brewery has created nearly 100,000 Jobs
The United Kingdom Secretary of State for
International Development Alok Sharma has lauded Diageo’s Kshs.14 billion
investment in the Kisumu Brewery, which has created over 100,000 direct and
indirect jobs, half of which have been taken up by women.
The UK Secretary recently inspected
the state-of-the-art brewery in Kisumu and was conducted on a tour of sorghum
farms that form part of the expansive EABL value chain in the western region.
The minister was in Kenya to promote the UK
Africa Investment Summit that is taking place on the 20th of January in London
with an aim of showcasing UK’s offer to Africa and vice versa.
“I have visited the women’s
cooperative in Kisumu, which has been working with support from Diageo to get
them integrated into the supply chain. What I am really proud of is that we
have a British company, which is making sure that it’s not just about profits
for its shareholders, but it is also about supporting employment and
particularly about economic empowerment for women here in Kenya and across
Africa. I am also pleased to hear that as a result of the work that Diageo has
been doing, there are 100,000 extra indirect jobs that are being created, with
half of these opportunities being taken up by women,” Sharma said
The facility is among the most
advanced breweries in Africa with the capacity to produce one million
hectoliters of Senator Keg within five years of operation. The plant will be an
efficient operation for KBL with key investments in renewable energy such as
biomass and solar as well as investment in water recovery.
The plant will mainly produce
Senator Keg; a value beer made from locally sourced sorghum and is expected to
have a huge impact in the economic development of the Western and Lake Region.
KBL MD Jane Karuku said that the
company is ready to power economic growth in the region, and was keen on
ensuring that the company’s economic benefits are shared with local
communities, thus improving livelihoods.
“KBL is fully committed to running a
sustainable business and boosting the economy of this region. With the
establishment of this facility, we will be making a huge impact on the lives of
thousands of people across our value chain. We are very happy to host Hon.
Sharma as it shows that there’s a lot of cooperation between the UK and Kenya
governments, Kenyan private sector, international private sector such as Diageo
as well as the Kenyan people. As he visited, we were sharing the work we have
done in the total integrated supply chain starting from the farmers,” said Mrs.
Karuku.
“As you are aware, this plant has
recruited 17,000 sorghum farmers from this region. We visited some of them who
have made incredible progress in sorghum production and I am very pleased to
some very happy farmers especially women groups. We also visited the factory to
see what it means to have a modern state-of-the-art factory in Kisumu to
produce beer. We have 8,000 new bars, which are selling Senator Keg, a safe and
affordable drink for those guys who want to enjoy alcohol,” added Karuku.
The Kisumu plant will also be an
energy efficient operation for KBL because of their investment in biomass,
where they burn waste to create additional energy to power the plant and also
the solar panels that are already supplying 10% of the plant’s energy
requirements. KBL has also invested in an efficient water management system
that will enable them reduce the amount of water used per hectolitre of beer
brewed by 15% that would be deemed as global best practice.
ENDS:
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