Punitive laws hurting beer industry, says Keroche boss

Keroche Breweries Ltd CEO Tabitha Karanja addressing delegates on the final day of the Governors’Summit at Enashipai Resort and Spa in Naivasha, Nakuru County on February 27, 2015. Keroche Breweries chief executive officer Tabitha Karanja said  punitive tax, unfair competitions and rules regulating drinking hours, popularly known as Mututho laws, are choking the business. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH  

In Summary

• She took the participants through the success story of Keroche Breweries from when it was established from a small hardware shop in 1997 to the multi-billion entity it is today.
• She said Keroche pays Sh1 billion annually in taxes and the amount would increase to Sh6 billion when the company introduces more brands in the market.
• Ms Karanja said her firm is setting up a Sh5 billion production plant, which would brew 110 million litres of alcohol annually.

By WANJIRU MACHARIA
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Punitive laws and poor regulations have been blamed for slow growth in Kenya’s beer industry.

Keroche Breweries chief executive officer Tabitha Karanja said  punitive tax, unfair competitions and rules regulating drinking hours, popularly known as Mututho laws, are choking the business.

Ms Karanja noted that Keroche would be a regional or even an international company at the moment were it not for the numerous bottlenecks including prohibitive licensing imposed on the industry.

Speaking during Governors Summit in Naivasha, Ms Karanja said she was a witness to “what it takes to do business in a disabling climate, which promotes unfair competitive environment”.

She took the participants through the success story of Keroche Breweries from when it was established from a small hardware shop in 1997 to the multi-billion entity it is today.

NEW PLANT

“Through those challenges, we were still able to build Keroche Breweries into a world-class business that today uses 21st Century brewing technology,” noted Ms Karanja.

She said Keroche pays Sh1 billion annually in taxes and the amount would increase to Sh6 billion when the company introduces more brands in the market.

“We still stand because of the huge support we receive from Kenyans and we do not want to ever let them down,” she said.

Ms Karanja said her firm is setting up a Sh5 billion production plant, which would brew 110 million litres of alcohol annually.

She said the new factory would also see an increase in the number of employees at Keroche headquarters in Naivasha by 100, raising the staff to 350. She urged the government to create an enabling environment for business.

Ms Karanja noted that entrepreneurs require support from national and county governments as they hold the key to economic growth.

“We urge our governors to invest in Kenya and in Kenyans so that we can grow our own brands that are high in quality and can compete globally,” she said.

Ms Karanja said a true entrepreneur is not about money.

Success in business, she said, is achieved when there is an enabling environment as well as good governance that supports and promotes entrepreneurship.

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