Mr Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media has said that in selling its majority shareholding in Guinness Nigeria to Indonesian conglomerate Tolaram, Diageo was merely following the business practice it has executed in countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia and Mauritius, South Africa and Namibia.

Onanuga in a post on X said “Since beer sales only form 15% of its global turnover, with the Guinness brand posting 16% of its profit, Diageo has been fine-tuning ways to increase profitability.

5000 job loss, cost of P&G exit from Nigeria

“In Ethiopia, it sold its Meta Abo brewery to Castel in January 2022. In July of the same year, Diageo also sold its brewery in Cameroon to Castel for $460m and licensed it to produce the Guinness brand, as it did in Mauritius with Phoenix Beverages.”

Onanuga explained that “As Diageo sold breweries in Africa, it invested in its brewing capabilities in Ireland, with $200m going towards a second brewing facility. The investment was expected to free up space for Guinness at its home in Dublin, reported Global Drinks Intel last December.”

He said that news reports claiming that the multinational is totally exiting Nigeria are misleading.

According to Bayo Onanuga, Diageo will still maintain its footprints in Nigeria, going by the statement released by Guinness on Tuesday. In selling its Guinness Nigeria shares to Tolaram, Diageo will enter into long-term licence and royalty agreements for the continued production of the Guinness brand and its locally manufactured Diageo ready-to-drink and mainstream brands in Nigeria.”

He said the statement added: “In partnership with Guinness Nigeria and Tolaram, Diageo will continue to drive the brand and marketing strategy for Guinness in Nigeria, to ensure Diageo’s exceptional capabilities in brand building and innovation continue to drive long-term growth for Guinness in Nigeria”.

BRANDPOWER reports that the Board Chair of Guinness Nigeria, Omobola Johnson, said  on Tuesday that: “Today’s announcement represents a significant opportunity for the next phase of growth for Guinness Nigeria. This partnership brings together Tolaram’s deep expertise in manufacturing and distribution, and Diageo’s exceptional capabilities in brand building and innovation. I believe this is a winning combination which leaves Guinness Nigeria extremely well placed to drive further growth in this market.”