Markets & Finance

Atlas inks beer bottles deal for its Ethiopia glass plant

NSE-listed Atlas Africa Industries has inked an agreement with Ethiopian Raya Brewery for supply of beer bottles which will be made at Atlas’ upcoming glass plant near Addis Ababa.

Atlas said Tuesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Raya with the full agreement set to come into force once the firm completes the construction of the glass factory.

READ: Ethiopia okays NSE-listed Atlas’s glass factory plans

The MoU comes a month after Atlas raised $5 million (Sh501 million) in a private placement to finance the feasibility study and initial construction work for the glass plant.

Atlas said Raya is a major brewery that currently imports its bottles from abroad.

“Beer production is continuing to grow year on year and with the substitution of imports a significant pillar of the country’s industrial policy, and we are ideally positioned to capitalise on the opportunities arising from this,” said Atlas chief executive officer Carl Esprey.

“Under the MoU, Atlas and Raya have agreed in principle, subject to confirmation of quality, to enter into an off-take agreement to regularly supply international-standard high quality glass bottles to Raya, in substitution of the imported bottles which it currently uses.”

The agreement is the first Atlas has announced for sale of glass products in Ethiopia since the firm wound down its oil logistics business in Kenya and moved into manufacturing in Ethiopia.

The company has recently completed a change of name from Atlas Development & Support Services Limited following the shift.

READ: Atlas changes name after raising Sh500m in UK

Raya’s production capacity is about 600,000 hectolitres of beer per year, translating to about 180 million 300ml bottles or 120 million half litre bottles of beer. The firm began production early last year.