Back to listing

East African Breweries Limited

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) is a regional leader in beverage alcohol with an exceptional collection of brands across beer and spirits.

Growth and employment

Growth and employment

Our operations have had a positive impact across the region, creating direct and indirect employment to over 2 million East Africans. We invest heavily in local manufacturing and raw materials and are the second largest corporate taxpayer in Kenya.

Over the last five years we have invested more than Kshs 30 billion to boost production capacity, enhance distribution channels and drive brand growth.

In 2017 we announced additional investment of Kshs 15 billion to build a new brewery in Kisumu, Kenya. The brewery will produce low-cost Senator beer, helping address the consumption of illicit brews, a significant public health issue in Kenya.

We directly employ about 1,500 people and will create 200 more jobs in our new brewery in Kisumu. We also have an extensive distribution network, with 100 distributors across Kenya, and around 22,000 mainstream outlets and 19,000 Senator outlets across the region.

Our value chain indirectly employs about 250,000 to 300,000 people and the Kisumu brewery will add an estimated 100,000 indirect employees. Over 60,000 farmers supply sorghum for use in the production of Senator beer.

Great people build great brands

Our ambition is to become the best performing and most trusted and respected consumer products company in the region. Having a diverse and motivated workforce is one of the key ways we will achieve this goal.

Our leaders are charged with putting diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything they do so that we can all share the benefits that diverse teams can bring to our business.

We are delighted that our efforts have been recognised. In 2018 EABL was named among the top four manufacturing businesses and as an employer of choice while our KBL Graduate Programme was voted the best initiative at the 2017 Global Careers Awards.

Among large companies, EABL has been named as the employer of choice several times in the last decade in Deloitte’s annual Best Company to Work For survey.

Tackling illicit and informal alcohol

Tackling illicit and informal alcohol

Illicit alcohol is a major public health issue across Africa. According to the World Health Organisation, about half of all the alcohol drunk in sub-Saharan Africa is produced illegally, with the “informal” brewing market believed to be three to five times the value of the beer market.

In East Africa we play a role in reducing the consumption of dangerous illicit brews by producing quality, affordable alternatives that also offer employment and economic benefit. Senator Keg, which was introduced to Kenya in 2004, demonstrates how we are doing this.

Senator Keg was developed to fight the consumption of illicit alcohol. This was done through a range of measures including a lower tax regime, which increased affordability, and special packaging to ensure that the beer was consumed where it was sold, that it would not be sold to minors and would not be sold above a set price.

Senator has become a flagship beer in Kenya, produced using locally sourced sorghum and employing local farmers while offering consumers a safe and affordable alternative to illicit alcohol.

Next section: alcohol in society

Global brands, local expertise – the women in field sales

Diageo’s Katherine Smart makes brewing history

Diageo North America’s business resource groups help our business to thrive