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Uhuru holds key to Sh543m EABL drive to aid bars resume business

EABL1807(7)

Kenya Breweries Limited Corporate Relations director Erick Kiniti. PHOTO | ONDARI OGEGA | NMG

President Uhuru Kenyatta holds the key to the rollout of Sh543 million ($5 million) recovery fund by East Africa Breweries Limited #ticker:EABL (EABL) to help pubs and bars resume trade post-lockdown.

The EABL reckons the rising Covid-19 cases over the past month has forced it to freeze the fund on uncertainty on whether the President will impose fresh restrictions on sit-down drinking in public places.

Mr Kenyatta is Wednesday expected to announce a review of measures set to curb the spread of the pandemic amid a spike in cases that has seen infections jump 46 per cent to 57,093 over the past month while deaths have risen 43 per cent to 1,039 in the same period.

“We will be guided by what the President will announce on Wednesday so that we know whether to launch it now or wait further,” EABL group corporate relations director Erick Kiniti.

“We were waiting to see how the last month of reopening goes. We did not want to launch until we have a clear picture to avoid loss of investment.”

Kenya shut down bars on March 25 before the partial reopening on September 28.

The EABL says the fund will offer targeted support like purchasing equipment such as hygiene kits, permanent sanitiser dispenser units, hand sanitisers, masks, and protection screens for bars that cannot maintain the one-metre social distance.

The firm will offer the bars hardware and not cash through the recovery plan that comes as a free grant.

The two-year programme dubbed “Raising the Bar” is part of the Sh10.6 billion ($100 million) kitty that will be rolled out from June 1 in different markets through EABL’s parent firm, Diageo.

Alcohol sales plummeted as businesses reeled from the order that only allowed for take-away, prompting firms like EABL to announce a 39 per cent drop in net profit to Sh7 billion for the year ended June 2020.

Alcohol manufacturers through their lobby — Alcohol Beverages Association of Kenya — reckon that 20 per cent of the bars remain shut due to outstanding rent and lack of cash.

President Kenyatta will today meet governors to review measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.