Bralima Brewery

Bralima

Bralima brewery in Kisangani
Location	Head Office Avenue du Drapeau 76 Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Phone: 8841227
Opened	1923

Bralima is a brewing company of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with six breweries, founded in 1923. The brewery is owned by Heineken International.

Bralima produces a wide variety of beers and other beverages, including Primus beer, Mützig, Turbo King, Guinness, alcohol-free Maltina and many soft drinks, which are bottled under license of the Coca-Cola Company.

After World War I, Belgian businessmen came to visit the present Democratic Republic of the Congo to evaluate the opportunities to invest in the country. It was understood that the government was interested in producing beer for the local population as the beer produced by the inhabitants themselves caused major health problems. A brewery, which could brew a high quality beer, would be a good substitute for the current situation. The investors decided to set up a brewery with the support of the “Société Congolaise de Banque”. On 23 October 1923 the “Brasserie de Léopoldville” (as Kinshasa was then known) was established for 4.000.000 Congolese francs. The first beer was produced on 27 December 1926.

After 1945 the brewery grew due to the economic boom in the DRC. Stakeholders were more likely to invest and Bralima decided to carry out a decentralized structure. From 1950 to 1958 Bralima decided to keep on five breweries in DR Congo: Kinshasa, Boma, Bukavu, Kisangani and Mbandaka.

Majority owned by Heineken since 1986, the operations of Bralima have attracted scrutiny due to alleged links with corrupt government figures and rebel leaders in long-running ongoing civil war. Due to the fraught security situation in various parts of the country, Bralima employs a private security company, Top SIG, which is a subsidiary of Saracen International, to safeguard its operations. According to Foreign Policy, Bralima paid an estimated $1 million to rebel groups, primarily to M23, per annum. Such rebel groups were alleged to have carried out abductions, mass sexual assault, looting and murder.