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, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. Its shares of

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

are listed on the

Rwanda Stock Exchange Rwanda Stock Exchange Limited (RSE) is a Rwandan Stock Exchange and was incorporated on 7 October 2005. The Stock Exchange was demutualized from the start as it was registered as a company limited by shares. The company was officially launched o ...

, 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, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

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

, was selected to house the new brewery. Gisenyi was selected for two reasons: It was easily accessible, by water, land and air; and 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 abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

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 Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

under license. In 1971, the Heineken Group, a Dutch 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, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

s. A soft beverages plant was opened in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), 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 is a relativ ...

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

Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

, which allowed Bralirwa to widen the range of products manufactured. As of 2018, Bralirwa was 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 Heineken Group 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 A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a mea ...

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 investm ...

(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 is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of Bralirwa included the following individuals: * Boudewijn Haarsma:

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, 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 gro ...

* Victor Madiela:

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

* 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 Gisenyi, approximately , by road, west of

, Rwanda's capital city. The administrative headquarters of the company is located in Kigali. Also located in Kigali is the Soft Beverages Plant, where Coca-Cola carbonated beverages 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 lager; launched in 1987. * Mützig Lite *

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch 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 February 1864, ...

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, to which the rive ...

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

Soft drinks *

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

* Coca-Cola-Zero *

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

: 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 Heineken brands Breweries of Africa Drink companies of Rwanda 1957 establishments in Ruanda-Urundi Food and drink companies established in 1957 Companies listed on the Rwanda Stock Exchange Organisations based in Kigali Coca-Cola bottlers