Beer production in Africa grew by 2.6% last year, the biggest growth shown in any continent, and though much of the brewing is done by giant multinationals, many of the beverages are still sold under tried-and-tested African brand names.
In a report published in July, BarthHaas, one of the world’s leading suppliers of hop products, noted that while beer production in North America dropped by 1.9 % and in Europe by 1.7%, production in Africa grew, driven largely by South Africa.
In 2025 the African beer market was valued at about R740bn.
Belgian giant AB InBev, which owns South African Breweries, Netherlands-based Heineken NV and the French Castel Group, dominate brewing in Africa. Earlier this year Diageo, the British beverage company, sold its stake in East African Breweries to Japanese company Asahi Group for R37bn, and its 58% stake in Guinness Nigeria to Singapore-based Tolaram for R1.2bn.
Despite international companies owning much of the beer-brewing capacity in Africa, their marketing departments are careful not to change brand names that resonate with national identity and heritage.
“One of the strategies with the most impact employed by the major players in the African beer market is the localisation of products and branding, where multinational brewers adapt their offerings to suit regional taste preference and cultural nuance,” analyst company Market Data Forecast noted in a report earlier this year.
Some African beers are named after geographic features that symbolise national pride. Kilimanjaro Lager, brewed by Tanzania Breweries and widely known as “Kili”, bears the name of Africa’s highest mountain; Nile Special, a Ugandan lager, is an obvious acknowledgment of the world’s longest river that flows through the “Pearl of Africa”, and Zambia’s Mosi Lager takes its name from Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Smoke that Thunders — the local Lozi name for the Victoria Falls.
The origin of some beer appellations is a little more obscure. Mozambique’s most popular beer, 2M, usually known as Dois M, owes its identity to a brewery named after 19th-century French president Patrice de MacMahon. In 1875, as an independent arbiter, he ruled in favour of Portugal over Britain in a dispute over Delagoa Bay (now the Bay of Maputo).
The owners of the Mac-Mahon brewery, founded in the 1960s, thought it appropriate to honour the old president by using his surname, which has Irish origins, but this was rapidly abbreviated by the public to “2M”, and has become part of Mozambique’s beer history. The company changed ownership over the years and was nationalised in 1975 but is now owned by AB InBev.
South Africa’s Carling Black Label was first produced in Canada in 1926 and has been produced under licence locally since 1966. Few use its formal name, preferring the nickname “Zamalek”, a reference to the Egyptian football team. Legend has it that local fans, excited that African football teams were beginning to visit the country as democracy approached in the early 1990s, began to refer to the beer as “Zamalek”, after the team defeated Kaizer Chiefs. Fans felt the beer’s high alcohol content was symbolic of the strength of the visitors.
Marketers are usually careful not to offend neighbouring countries. Mosi Lager takes full advantage of its association with “The Falls”, but Zimbabwe, which shares the landmark with Zambia, and anxious not to miss out on good publicity, also makes an indirect reference to the neighbours via Zambezi Lager.
Serengeti Breweries of Tanzania took part of its rival’s inspiration by selling Uhuru Peak Lager, the mountain’s highest point.
Another mountain, another beer. In neighbouring Kenya, White Cap Lager is named after the snow-capped peak of Mount Kenya, the second-highest mountain in Africa.
Madagascar, though rich in wildlife, has none of the “big and hairy” wildlife megafauna of Africa, so chose the horse as the emblem for the country’s most popular tipple. Three Horses Lager, usually known as THB, was first brewed in 1958 by Star Breweries in Antsirabe, a town which French colonists favoured as an equestrian centre. Star was originally owned by a Dutch company Drie Hoefijzers (Three Horses).
Traditional sorghum and maize-based beers are also popular throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Many people still brew their own umqombothi, but commercial versions, sold in square cartons, command a large market. The beer is thick and nutritious and requires a few shakes to mix it properly, a requirement reflected in the name of one of the best-known brands right across Southern Africa, the famous Chibuku Shake Shake.
