Nigerian Breweries — Companies

Why it is on record

Brewed the first bottle of STAR lager in June 1949 — the first industrial-scale brewery in Nigeria and a founding artefact of Nigerian manufacturing.

Record held

First brewery; longest-running large-scale manufacturer.

Founders

United Africa Company (UAC) and a group of Nigerian and Lebanese partners; Heineken N.V. as technical partner from inception.

Headquarters

Iganmu, Lagos.

Lineage / corporate history

Nigerian Brewery Limited incorporated 16 November 1946; first bottle of STAR lager rolled off the Iganmu line on 2 June 1949. Renamed Nigerian Breweries Limited 1957; listed NGX 1973; merged with Consolidated Breweries (Diageo divestment) 2014.

Current leadership

Chairman: Chief Felix Ohiwerei (Emeritus); MD/CEO: Hans Essaadi.

Key dates

16 Nov 1946Incorporated by UAC and partners.
2 Jun 1949First bottle of STAR lager — Nigeria's first industrial-scale beer.
1957Renamed Nigerian Breweries Limited.
1973Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
2014Acquires Consolidated Breweries from Heineken's divestment of overlapping assets; brand portfolio expands to include 33 Export, Williams and Goldberg.

Deep dive

Nigerian Breweries' 1949 STAR lager launch at Iganmu is the founding event of Nigerian industrial manufacturing — the first product of any factory in Nigeria of fully modern industrial scale and brand identity. The Iganmu brewery, built by a UAC-led consortium with Heineken as technical partner, was the largest single industrial investment in colonial Nigeria up to that point. The STAR brand is the oldest continuously produced Nigerian beer.

Heineken's progressive consolidation of equity through the 1970s and 1980s (despite the indigenisation decrees) and the 2014 acquisition of Consolidated Breweries together gave the company a brand portfolio (STAR, Gulder, Heineken, Maltina, Amstel Malta, 33 Export, Williams, Goldberg) that covers ~70% of the Nigerian beer and malt market by volume. The company is the largest single buyer of sorghum and the largest industrial water user in Nigeria.