Chief Kola Jamodu has revealed that Nigerian Breweries Plc (NB) paid N416 billion in taxes since 2016, making it the top tax-paying corporation in the manufacturing industry in Nigeria.
Jamodu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said the firm paid N423.9 million in employee taxes, levies, and other fees to the Enugu State government in 2021, during the commissioning ceremony of the N56 billion extension civil works at Ama Brewery on Wednesday.
“This project will make our biggest brewery even bigger,” Jamodu said, praising Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for presenting the state as an investment destination and establishing a suitable climate for businesses, particularly theirs, to prosper.
“As you join us for what is a significant milestone for our business, I hope you will take out time to tour our brewery and see our world-class facilities first-hand. These are some of the machinery, equipment and lines that have kept us at the forefront of the beverage sector as Nigeria’s biggest brewer since 1946.
“We cannot take the credit for this alone. We have enjoyed the support of the Federal Government as well as the various state governments where our breweries are located.
“On this note, I wish to thank His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for your efforts in positioning the state as an investment destination and creating a conducive environment for businesses like ours to thrive.
“Indeed, our partnership with the state government has seen us invest hundreds of millions of naira in various community projects and social investment initiatives in the areas of health, education, community infrastructure and sports development.”
The Board chairman, however, explained that the expansion project would be executed in two phases, adding that the first phase would be completed in 2022 in full compliance with the international environmental and safety standards.
“Brewery capacity to be boosted from 3.0 million hectolitres to 4.8 million hectolitres in the first phase, and to 5.3 million hectolitres in the second phase.
“The impact of the expansion will lead to improved revenue and increased economic activities in the state.”
He added, “Today, we have 840 staff who contribute to the growth of Enugu State via tax payments and other levies.”
In his remarks, the president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mansur Ahmed, commended the Nigerian Breweries Plc for their resourcefulness in the manufacturing industry in the country, noting that Ama Brewery has become the most modern in the West African sub-region.
Ahmed, represented by the Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the expansion project came at a time when virtually all macroeconomic indices were heading south.
“It takes a company with an admixture of strategic thinking and firm belief in the boundless possibilities of the Nigerian market to do so. It is on this note that I congratulate the Enugu State and Nigeria for being worthy hosts to a world-class and socially responsible Brewery.
“Over the years, NB Plc has blazed the trail as a resilient business entity.
“It is a foremost contributor to the GDP in the Beverages sub-sector; a leading source of revenue to States and the Federal Governments and a commendable promoter of resource-based industrialisation in Nigeria.
“MAN believes that scale production, as would be delivered by this expansion project, is key to the optimisation of national industrial capacity. This will, in turn, improve our competitiveness, as we stand at the threshold of active trading in the emerging 1.3 billion people market in the African Continental Free Trade Area.”
