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. Its shares of stock are listed on the

Rwanda Stock Exchange The Rwanda Stock Exchange Limited was incorporated on 7 October 2005 with the objective of carrying out stock market operations. The Stock Exchange was demutualized from the start as it was registered as a company limited by shares. The company ...

, 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, 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 on Ea ...

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 was introduced. In 1989, Bralirwa began making Guinness 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 drinks. A soft beverages plant was opened in Kigali, 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 stock of the company are listed on the

(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 of Bralirwa included the following individuals: * Boudewijn Haarsma: Chairman * 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 especially ...

* 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 Kigali, 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 * Mützig, 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 r ...

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 drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

* 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