N416 Billion Tax Paid By Nigerian Breweries Since 2016 — Board Chair

Chief Kola Jamodu, Chairman of the Board of Directors has disclosed that Nigerian Breweries Plc is the highest tax-paying firm in the manufacturing industry in Nigeria as the company has paid N416 billion since 2016.

This was disclosed by Jamodu during the commissioning ceremony of N56 billion expansion civil works at Ama Brewery on Wednesday.

The firm had equally paid N423.9 million in 2021 in employee taxes, levies, and other duties to the Enugu State government.

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Enugu State governor, commended the firm for positioning the state as an investment destination and creating a conducive environment for businesses, especially their business, to thrive.

Jamodu noted that once the expansion was completed, “this project will make our biggest brewery even bigger.”

“As you join us for what is a significant milestone for our business, I hope you will take out time to tour our brewery and see our world-class facilities first-hand.

"These are some of the machinery, equipment and lines that have kept us at the forefront of the beverage sector as Nigeria’s biggest brewer since 1946.

“We cannot take the credit for this alone. We have enjoyed the support of the Federal Government as well as the various state governments where our breweries are located.

“On this note, I wish to thank His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for your efforts in positioning the state as an investment destination and creating a conducive environment for businesses like ours to thrive.

“Indeed, our partnership with the state government has seen us invest hundreds of millions of naira in various community projects and social investment initiatives in the areas of health, education, community infrastructure, and sports development.”

The Board chairman also made clarifications on how the expansion project would be executed which will be in two phases, explaining that the first phase would be completed in 2022 in full compliance with the international environmental and safety standards.

“Brewery capacity to be boosted from 3.0 million hectolitres to 4.8 million hectolitres in the first phase, and to 5.3 million hectolitres in the second phase.

“The impact of the expansion will lead to improved revenue and increased economic activities in the state.”

He added, “Today, we have 840 staff who contribute to the growth of Enugu State via tax payments and other levies.”

In his remarks, the president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mansur Ahmed, commended the Nigerian Breweries Plc for their resourcefulness in the manufacturing industry in the country, noting that Ama Brewery has become the most modern in the West African sub-region.

“It takes a company with an admixture of strategic thinking and firm belief in the boundless possibilities of the Nigerian market to do so.

"It is on this note that I congratulate the Enugu State and Nigeria for being worthy hosts to a world-class and socially responsible Brewery.

“Over the years, NB Plc has blazed the trail as a resilient business entity.

“It is a foremost contributor to the GDP in the Beverages sub-sector; a leading source of revenue to States and the Federal Governments and a commendable promoter of resource-based industrialisation in Nigeria.

“MAN believes that scale production, as would be delivered by this expansion project, is key to the optimisation of national industrial capacity.

"This will, in turn, improve our competitiveness, as we stand at the threshold of active trading in the emerging 1.3 billion people market in the African Continental Free Trade Area.”