In Zimbabwe, the Delta Corporation, the country’s largest brewer, recorded a 48% drop in turnover in the second half of 2019. The main cause of this poor performance is the energy deficit, which has affected the country with load shedding and fuel supply difficulties.
Sales of soft drinks fell 56% in the last half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. The brand’s best-selling sorghum beer saw a 15% drop in sales.
“Our production and distribution operations have been interrupted by shortages of electricity and fuel, which are themselves a manifestation of the limited availability of foreign currency in the country,” the company said in a statement. The brewer also revealed that it owed $ 72 million to its foreign suppliers.
Recall that the drop in water level in the Kariba dam and the poor condition of thermal power plants have burdened Zimbabwe with more than half of its electricity production. In addition, President Emmerson Mnangagwa reintroduced a few months ago, the Zimbabwe dollar as the only currency in use in the country, thereby creating a foreign exchange deficit.
