The 1st African Brewing Conference was held successfully from 21 to 23 May 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 180 participants from 20 countries utilized this event as a communication and knowledge platform. The conference was a joint project of VLB Berlin and DuPont Industrial Biosciences with the local support of Ethiopia Invest.

The conference was officially opened by the organizers and representatives from the Ethiopia Ministery of Industry and Trade on Wednesday, 22 May. In the pre-convention program on Tuesday, a technical visit to the Heineken Kilinto Brewery, located in the outskirts of Addis Ababa, was on the agenda. On Wednesday and Thursday the conference covered topics along the supply chain of beer production, such as brewing with barley and nonbarley malt, sustainable process optimization from the brew house up to filling, and aspects of product quality. It also included a strategic outlook on the developments of the beer markets in East Africa, one of the regions with the strongest economic development on this continent.

“The inaugural Africa Brewing Conference was an exceptional opportunity for brewers to come together to strengthen relationships and learn from one another to further develop the beer market in the region”, said Allyson Fish, Global Business Director, Food Enzymes at DuPont.

“We and DuPont are thrilled to provide an open platform for world-class education and networking for the brewing industry in Africa”, said Dr. Josef Fontaine, Managing Director of VLB Berlin. “We had an incredible group joining us this week. It was a pleasure to met many old friends and found a lot of new ones.”

At the closing of the conference, Solomon Tadele, General Director Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical Industry Development Institute, Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry, Estifanos Samuel, Ethiopia Invest, and Dr. Josef Fontaine, VLB Berlin, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the target to establish a training program for professional brewers in Ethiopia starting this year.