SABMiller to invest $125 million in Angola

London-based SABMiller, the worldÔÇÖs second-largest brewer, has announced plans to invest $125 million in a new brewery and soft drinks factory in Angola, as part of its ongoing programme of expansion in Africa.  The investment brings the amount invested by SABMiller across Angola in the past eighteen months to $250 million. The new site in Luanda, due to open in October, is expected to produce 500,000 hectolitres (1.32 million gallons) of beer and 200,000 hectolitres of soft drinks each year. It will also employ around 500 people from the local area. SABMiller, brewer of the well-known brands Grolsch, Pilsner and Peroni, generates about ten per cent of its annual revenue from Africa.  Last month, the company said it expects the four breweries due to open in Africa this year to be the most profitable of the ten new plants it is starting around the world.  Mark Bowman, managing director for SABMiller Africa, said in a statement: "SABMiller remains positive about the potential of the Angolan market and in conjunction with our partners, we are continuing to invest in what will be a bright future for the business.  ÔÇ£Angola's economy has held up well during the global economic crisis and our team on the ground has risen to the challenges posed by supply chain and infrastructural constraints." Earlier this year, production started at a SABMiller plant in southern Sudan.┬á The company currently has brewing and beverage interests in thirty-two African countries.┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *