THE Benue State Government is set to build a brewery to stop capital flights to other states after discovering that its residents consume beer worth N850 million monthly.
The Managing Director of Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC), Raymond Asemakaha, unveiled this to journalists on Tuesday, May 7, in Makurdi, the state capital.
He said the brand’s name would be revealed during its launch in December.
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Asemakaha led reporters on a tour of the planned water, bakery, and brewery plants in Makurdi and explained that the idea to establish a brewery was spurred by recent research indicating that a significant sum of money is spent on beer each month in the north-central state.
He stated that the company’s goal was to provide Nigerians and Benue residents with a premium beer produced locally in the state, which utilises local ingredients.
He declared that BIPC would stop at nothing to ensure that customers could drink a unique beer because it was not in competition with any other brewery.
He said that when he came on board, he discovered that the rate of alcohol consumption in the state was about N850 million per month.
“We understand that the people selling these beers have taken this money out of Benue State.
“So, we discovered and said no. All we need to do is float a new company so that we can observe and retain the cash flow within the system. That is why we are embarking on beer production.
“This N850 to N870 million is a monthly sale of beers in the state, and within the month of December, they have made one billion naira in sales. So, one of the things we are doing is to help retain the cash flow within the system,” Asemakaha stated.
He added that the estimated production capacity was 180,000 bottles daily, and the fermentation period would be 15 days.
He promised to crash the price of beer in the state.
“We want to retain the cash within us. It is our own thing. So, the people here, our brothers and sisters, should be able to key in and take our products,” he added.
He said the factory would reach full production by the first week of December 2024.
The managing director promised that the funds would be secured and estimated that the brewery project would cost between ₦700 and ₦800 million.
The ICIR Hyacinth Iormem Alia, a Nigerian Catholic cleric and politician, is currently the governor of Benue State.
The state has been the hotbed of insecurity in recent years.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance
