The President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, has officially commissioned an ultra-modern bottling line at the Sierra Leone Brewery, at the factory's industrial estate in Wellington, eastend of the capital, Freetown. The bottling line is estimated to cost some six million euros, the equivalent of nineteen billion leones.

The Managing Director of the Sierra Leone Brewery, Ivan Carroll, paid tribute to their overseas shareholders - Heineken International, Guinness Overseas Ltd and PZ for making the new bottling line available to the company. He said the new bottling line would improve the yearly production capacity from one hundred and twenty thousand hectolitres to two hundred and fifty thousand hectolitres. The new bottling facility also has the capacity to produce twenty five thousand bottles which is equivalent to one thousand and forty cartons per hour.

Mr Thomas De Man of Heineken International said he was very impressed with the positive development in the country since his last visit, noting that a lot of economic activities are going on. He said the history of the Sierra Leone Brewery has been somewhat chequered particularly during the period from 1997 to 1999 that witnessed a lot of chaos and uncertainty. He recalled that in 1997 the brewery had to close down after it had suffered losses estimated at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But with fortitude, he said, it was reopened in 1998 after the restoration of President Kabbah's government.

President Kabbah inspecting the new bottling line	The new bottling line

However, he said that the company suffered again and incurred greater losses and destruction during the January 1999 invasion of Freetown by rebel elements, amounting to three million US dollars. After that Mr. De man said the Brewery made a clarion call to both local and international shareholders for help. Though the initial response was lukewarm, the fresh hope for peace after the Lome Peace Accord restored confidence among stakeholders and the company was able to raise the badly needed funds from shareholders. Furthermore, he said the government granted the company the necessary duty free concessions for the importation of plant and machinery destroyed during the invasion, which facilitated its re-entry into the market again in 2000.

Mr De man pointed out that in addition to the six million euro investment in the new bottling line, they are going to embark on the development of the human resource base of the company. "We are committed to train, develop and expose the people to the best and introduce tools and processes that would afford them the opportunity to deliver the organisation's goals, aspirations and ambition, and also revamp the distribution network to ensure products are available, accessible, acceptable and affordable," the Heineken international representative disclosed.

Mr. De Man told his audience that in response to a suggestion put forward by President Kabbah they have decided to develop a programme for the growing of some of their required raw materials in the country as a means of boosting the agriculture sector. He assured the President that they were committed to not only produce and market high quality products but also to contribute toward the development of the economy and the well-being of Sierra Leoneans.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Kadie Sesay, said the Sierra Leone Brewery had shown its commitment to this country by risking its capital of about 6 million euros by investing in this new bottling line and had demonstrated its optimism about the future prospects of Sierra Leone. With improved peace and stability in the country and the positive economic growth projections, the minister of trade said, there has never been a better time than now for the private sector to invest in the future of this country.

Dr. Sesay pointed out that the promotion and development of the private sector is the engine of growth and thus looked forward to more investments of this nature. She said the Sierra Leone Brewery, according to data provided, contributed seven billion Leones to government's revenue in 2003 in the form of duties and other taxes and by the end of this year they hope to make it 12 billion Leones, pointing out that these are significant contributions which demonstrate the ability of the private sector to generate resources that the Government could use for socio-economic spending. She added that the aim of government is to have another 100 companies like Sierra Leone Brewery Limited contributing similar revenues to the government treasury, and congratulated the Board and Management of the company for their stewardship and wonderful achievement.

President Kabbah recalled that over forty years ago when planners identified and mapped out suitable areas in the Wellington vicinity for industrial development, the Sierra Leone Brewery Limited was one of the earliest industries that was established in the area. "That was the birth of a testimony of success after success in the brewing and marketing of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in this country", the President recounted.

This momentum, he added, was maintained throughout the years up to 1997 and 1999 when this nation was subjected to destruction of unimaginable proportions, and Sierra Leone Brewery was no exception.

The President who was, in the sixties as a civil servant, part of discussions that led to the formation of the West African Free Trade Area (WAFTA) that is today the Mano River Union (MRU), said that at the time a deliberate decision was taken to locate industries in the respective member countries that would serve the rest of the union. This kind of synergistic pooling of resources, he said, was aimed at accelerating development within the sub-region. For instance, a brewery in Freetown, an iron ore treatment facility in Monrovia and a bauxite plant in Conakry, with one country producing for the three was one of the visions of the free-trade concept, the president elaborated.

However, he said that this brilliant idea and others like it never materialized largely because of conflict and instability in the sub-region. But in light of the present moves to reactivate the Mano River Union, the President suggested to those responsible for planning the development of this particular industry to have in mind the possibility of future expansion of this brewery to meet the original dreams of producing for an expanding market.

He described the commissioning ceremony as the fruit of foresight, faith, commitment and strategic planning to improve on the production facilities of one of the foremost companies in this country and expressed appreciation to the foreign shareholders- Heineken International, Guinness Overseas Limited, Paterson Zochonis - and local shareholders alike, the management and staff of the Sierra Leone Brewery Limited for a job well done within such a tight time-frame, in the face of severe constraints.

He was pleased to note that the support that was provided by government facilitated in some way the acquisition of this ultra-modern bottling line, which would enormously enhance production facilities and capabilities. This was a concrete manifestation of government's avowed commitment to create conducive conditions in which the private sector would flourish, he said. Government, he said, viewed the investment in this new bottling line project, estimated at six million Euros, as a welcome response by the shareholders of the Brewery to the range of incentives that government is providing for investors.

The investment, he said, also represents an eloquent expression of confidence in the investment climate in Sierra Leone and expressed the hope that this would attract other investors (particularly overseas investors) to Sierra Leone.

President Kabbah was also appreciative of the significance of this development in terms of the job opportunities it offered and the improvement in the prospects for the development of this country, and extended best wishes to all the stakeholders of Sierra Leone Brewery Limited for the continuous growth of the business, thereby generating a-more-than average return on their investment.

The Brewery manager later took the President and entourage on a conducted tour of the new bottling facility

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