Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL), is a first line manufacturer, importer and distributor of wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages

History

The company was founded in 1969 by the

Government of Kenya , image = , caption = Coat of arms of Kenya , date = 1963 , jurisdiction = Republic of Kenya , url = http://www.mygov.go.ke/ , legislature = Parliament of Kenya , meeting_place = ...

, to consolidate and streamline the importation and distribution of wine and spirits in the country. The agency opened its first wholly owned winery in 1982. Initially, KWAL enjoyed a monopoly, which was broken when the country's economy was liberalized. In the beginning, KWAL was a 100%

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

, owned through the

Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) is a Kenyan government-owned development finance institution. ICDC is a government parastatal, whose primary objective is to facilitate the investment by Kenyans in the economy of the count ...

(ICDC) now Kenya Development Corporation (KDC). In 2012, KWAL and the

Distell Group Limited Distell Group Limited, commonly referred to as Distell, is a multinational brewing and beverage company, based in South Africa. Overview Distell Group Limited is a producer and marketer of spirits, fine wines, ciders and ready-to-drinks. The g ...

fought each other's in a legal feud when Distell started to bypass KWAL to distribute its beverages in Kenya. KWAL was the sole distributor of 80% of Distell beverages in Kenya. At this point, the Kenyan government had already considered selling a fair share of KWAL to Distell, but the process had been delayed. In 2014, the process of divestiture by the government was kick-started when 26% shareholding was sold to the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n multinational conglomerate

. Beginning in February 2015, the

began the process of selling 4% ownership to the estimated 235 company employees at the time at a price of KSh34 (US$0.00378) per share. The process is expected to conclude in April or May 2015. ICDC still has a 42.65 stake to dispose of. Since 2017,

owns a majority share in KWAL, having acquired an additional 26% stake from the

(ICDC) now Kenya Development Corporation (KDC). In October 2018, Lina Githuka was appointed new managing director of the company, succeeding to Carlos Gomes. In 2019, KWAL started its own production of Hunters-branded cider. In February 2021, KWAL launched the construction of its new manufacturing facility in Tatu City, its first in 20 years.

Description

Activities

KWAL is a wine manufacturer, distiller, importer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, headquartered in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, with a distribution network throughout

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

's urban centres. The company has an established countrywide branch network and is repositioning itself to grow the market in line with its renewed vision of being the preferred provider of Quality beverages in Eastern Africa and beyond. KWAL pioneered the wine industry in Kenya having established the first commercial winery in Kenya in 1982.

Ownership

The company is owned by KWAL Holdings E.A. Limited (KHEAL). KHEAL the parent Company of the KWAL group of companies has shareholding as follows as of June 2022: In May 2021, the Heineken group offered to acquire the Distell group, which would make the Dutch group the majority shareholder of KWAL.Victor Juma
Heineken eyes South African firm with 55pc stake in Kwal
''Businessdailyafrica.com'', 20 May 2021

References

External links