Castle Lager, Africa’s most valuable beer, grows 22% in brand value

Castle Lager has had a stellar year, with a 2024 brand value of $698 million, up 22% from its 2023 brand value of $574 million. This is largely due to the brand’s strong sports sponsorship and innovation. Country Bread Activity.

If someone asks Africans what their favorite alcoholic beverage is, the answer will definitely be beer, and it will definitely be a local brand.

Interestingly, many of Africa’s “local” brands are now owned by global giants, two of which are Kenya’s Tusker (owned by Britain’s Diageo) and South Africa’s Castle Lager (owned by Belgium’s Anheuser-Busch InBev).

Looking back at the 2024 Brand Finance Africa 200 report (released in May 2024), there are no fewer than 15 brands on the list, from six countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

Inverroche, South Africa: Amazing success

In the spirits world, South African gin brand Inverroche has been incredibly successful, leading the gin trend with more than 20 botanical flavours.

The brand was launched in 2011 and one of the reasons for its recent success is that French giant Pernod Ricard has taken a majority stake, using marketing techniques while maintaining complete authenticity of the brand and adding financial muscle to expand the brand’s international presence.

Diageo shares fall

Global headwinds are affecting Africa just as much as other parts of the world.

These include reduced disposable income due to inflation, weak economic growth and global warming taking their toll on South Africa’s wine and spirits industry, as well as a decline in global alcohol consumption among Generation Z and higher prices for imported brands due to the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar.

Just look at the fall in the share price of Diageo, the world’s largest drinks company and a very active brand in Africa.

Sporting events such as the recent European Football Championship are a major driver of global consumption.

While the continent remains in disarray in many ways, individual countries have benefited from local tournaments, with football leading the way in this regard.