Beer jewel under the sun
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New venture in Nigeria
OPENING
As beer is such a popular drink in Nigeria,
it is not surprising that capacity expansions
are needed to keep pace with the growing
demand. Three years ago Nigerian
Breweries took the decision to add another
big plant to the three brewery units they
already owned in that country. The new
brewery was to be located in Ibadan which,
with its millions of inhabitants, lies some
150 kilometres to the north of Lagos. The
site covers 70 hectares, but was not all
completely level terrain. One million cubic
metres of earth had to be moved before
construction could be started.
That was back in October 1979. On 14
April 1982 the first brew was made, merely
one month behind on the schedule laid
down three years previously in the plans. A
fine achievement by Heineken Technical
Services which bore overall responsibility
for this construction project on behalf of
Nigerian Breweries.
The Ibadan region is fairly flat with a lot of
grassland and low tree cover. By African
standards the landscape is green, for there
is a rainy season lasting from July through
to October. During that period as much
rainfall is recorded every month as falls in
Holland in a whole year. But after that
deluge the weather remains almost
completely dry. Thick layers of dust cover
everything and the temperatures range
between 30 and 40°C. In the wet season it is
not quite so warm, but the humidity is then
of course much higher, making the heat
seem more oppressive than under a clear
blue sky.
The new brewery has an initial capacity of
11 million hectolitres a year and can easily
be expanded to produce three times this
volume. The brewhouse can turn out 4,000
hi a day and 44 giant Apollo tanks for
fermentation and lagering are currently
installed on the site.
As usual, transporting these colossal tanks
presented problems. Two low-loaders
were specially designed and constructed in
Germany for this job. They have load-
His Excellency Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Vice-President of Nigeria (fourth from left) during the visit
to the brewery on the day of the inauguration. He is accompanied a.o. by Mr. T.J. Davies,
Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries (first from left), Mr. Abebe, chairman of the Board
of Directors of Nigerian Breweries (third from left), and His Excellency Chief Bola Ige, governor
ofOyo State (fifth from left)
The governor of Oyo State,
His
Excellency Chief Bola Ige, during his speech.
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