Bralirwa, also known by its French name Brasseries et Limonaderies du Rwanda, is the largest

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer ...

and soft beverage company in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. Its shares of

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...

are listed on the Rwanda Stock Exchange, where they trade under the symbol:BLRW. As of December 2017, the company's total assets were valued at RWF:127.73 billion (approximately US$149.72 million), with shareholders' equity of RWF:35.7 billion (US$41.83 million).

History

The history of Bralirwa goes back to 1957. The management of the breweries of the Congo and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...

, then under the management of Brasseries de Leopoldville (Brewery of Kinshasa), decided to build another brewery in the Eastern region. The city of

Gisenyi Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Overview The city features a resort on t ...

, on the northern shores of

Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, whic ...

, was selected to house the new brewery. Gisenyi was selected for two reasons: (a) It was easily accessible, by water, land and air and (b) Lake Kivu has a large quantity of proven reserves of

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane ...

gas, a source of alternative energy. The brewery became operational in 1959 and began producing Primus beer, the only brand produced until 1987. In 1987, a new premium local beer brand,

Mützig Mützig is a beer brand owned by Heineken and its subsidiaries, and was originally brewed in 1810 by of Alsace, France. It is now a 5.5% ABV lager available in 65cl and 33cl bottles. It has a full-bodied taste and distinctive packaging, and is ...

was introduced. In 1989, Bralirwa began making

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ov ...

under license. In 1971, the

Heineken Group Heineken N.V. () is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. , Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, regional, local and speciality be ...

, a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

brewing conglomerate, acquired a 70 percent majority shareholding in Bralirwa. With the acquisition, Bralirwa greatly improved its brewing process. In 1974, Bralirwa diversified into the production of

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common t ...

s. A soft beverages plant was opened in

Kigali Kigali () is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwanda's economic, cult ...

, Rwanda's capital and largest city. The brewer partnered with the

Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups ...

, which allowed Bralirwa to widen the range of products manufactured. As of 2018, Bralirwa is a regionally and internationally recognized brewer and soft beverage manufacturer with an expanding portfolio of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Ownership

The shares of

of the company are listed on the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), where they trade under the symbol BLRW. The

owns 75 percent of the shares of the company. The remaining 25 percent are owned by individual and institutional investors. In December 2009, the

Government of Rwanda The politics of Rwanda reflect Belgian and German civil law systems and customary law takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Rwanda is the head of state with significant executive power, with the Pr ...

successfully divested from the company by selling 5 percent shareholding directly to the Heineken Group and by listing the remaining 25 percent on the RSE, through an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

(IPO). , the ownership of the company stock is as depicted in the table below:

Governance

As of December 2017, the members of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

of Bralirwa included the following individuals: * Boudewijn Haarsma:

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

* Victor Madiela:

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

* Chantal Mubarure: Non-Executive Director * George Gakuba: Non-Executive Director * John Bosco Sebabi: Non-Executive Director * Jordi Borrut Bel: Non-Executive Director * Hubert Eze: Non-Executive Director.

Operations

The Bralirwa brewery is located in

, approximately , by road, west of

, Rwanda's capital city. The administrative headquarters of the company are located in Kigali. Also located in Kigali is the Soft Beverages Plant, where Coca-Cola carbonated beverages of are manufactured under license. In May 2011, press reports indicated that the company was in the process of establishing a new soft drinks manufacturing line at the company's plant in Kicukiro, a suburb of Kigali, and upgrading its brewing plant in Gisenyi.

Brands

The brands manufactured by Bralirwa include:

Beers

* Primus * Primus Citron * Turbo King * Huza *

, a 5.5%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

lager; launched in 1987. * Mützig Lite *

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Feb ...

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the ri ...

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

Soft drinks

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

* Coca-Cola-Zero *

Fanta Fanta is an American-owned German brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are more than 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as ...

: Orange, Citron, Fiesta, Pineapple * Sprite * Krest Tonic * Soda-Water * Cheetah-Energy-drink

References

External links

Homepage

Heineken Homepage

Photos
Bralirwa Brewery in Gisenyi
{{Economy of Rwanda Drink companies of Rwanda Companies listed on the Rwanda Stock Exchange 1957 establishments in Ruanda-Urundi Heineken subsidiaries Organisations based in Kigali Coca-Cola bottlers Food and drink companies established in 1957 Breweries of Africa