In order to satisfy the increasing demand of breweries in Ethiopia, Boortmalt Malting of Belgium is set to open a malting factory that aims to build a 60 metric ton, a malting plant in Debre Berhan Industrial Park (DBIP).
EIC has signed the agreement on behalf of the Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPD) for the construction of a 15 hectare plant that will be the first anchor investment in the DBIP.
Signed at the EIC office by Ato Fitsum Arega, Commissioner of EIC, and Mr. Yvan Schaepman, CEO of Boortmalt, the agreement is a result of the collaborative effort between the EIC, Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), and Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoNAR) to arrange and facilitate the granting of land permits for nucleus farms, a malting plant, and satellite silos.
The ATA and EIC collaborated to develop several business cases identifying and encouraging investment in agro-processing, such as this greenfield opportunity in barley malting. Opportunities include contract farming opportunities for crops such as malt barley, which have the potential to impact the livelihoods of 20,000 – 40,000 smallholder farmers nationwide.
The commercialization of smallholder farmers is instrumental to Ethiopia’s aim of eradicating poverty and achieving middle income status by 2025.
“This signing marks an important milestone for all parties, and particularly the ATA as our first conversion of a major international investment,” stated Ato Mirafe Gebriel Marcos, Senior Director of Agri-business and Markets at the ATA, “We have worked diligently over the last few years to bring this into fruition, and the result will be the construction of a state-of-the art facility with environmental sustainability at its core.”
In 2016, Boortmalt indicated interest in investing in expanding local malting capacity by signing a preliminary MoU. Its presence in Ethiopia represents a reliable and substantive buyer that can strengthen the barley value chain by creating linkages with farmers, cooperatives and aggregators in key areas.
Currently, the national malt barley demand far exceeds supply, with Assela Malt Factory being the primary supplier of malt. With the advent of numerous breweries in recent years, Ethiopia has been fulfilling nearly 50% of breweries’ needs with imported malt.
Boortmalt’s entry into the market means that Ethiopia can satisfy its domestic demand and begin exporting malt barley within five years. The initiative also offers numerous other benefits, such as incentivizing smallholders by creating direct and sustainable market opportunities that link them with agro-processing industries. It will also demonstrate the economic viability of investing in Ethiopia and attracting more foreign direct investment.
BOORTMALT is an International Malting Company created in 1927 in Belgium. It produces and globally markets barley malts to brewing & distilling companies and craft brewers and distillers. BOORTMALT has 10 malting plants in Europe (Belgium, England, France, Scotland, Ireland, Hungary and Croatia) and enjoys a well-recognized expertise in the production of quality malts.