African beer pot and economy

A recent report on beer in Belgium revealed that the country has more than 400 brewers. FILE PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK

A recent report on beer in Belgium revealed that the country has more than 400 brewers. And in 2022, they produced close to 25 million hectolitres (1 hectolitre = 100 litres).

In addition, a global beer consumption by country report in 2019 indicated that the country’s 11.5 million citizens consumed on average 66 litres in the year.

What is interesting to note is that the country does not appear in Forbes magazine as one of the top worst countries in the world for drunk driving.

Yet, it produces ten times more beer than the global average. The country also has a thriving wine and spirits sector that creates employment and enhances its economy.

Belgium receives about 5 million tourists annually.

And many of them always seek abbeys beers that were previously brewed by monks and Trappist beer brewed by Trappist monks and sold to the public as a source of revenue. So this historical and cultural practice is a magnet for visitors.

And I have not seen one drunken person staggering on the road as we often see in Africa. This made me think about the beer brewed in the African pot. And what could be the problem?

By comparison, Kenya’s consumption of beer per capita (PPC) was a paltry 1.7 litres in the same year and far less than neighbouring Somalia. But we often make it look like we have a crisis brewing the local beer.

The question we need to ask ourselves: What is causing drunkenness? Of late, there has been a consensus among researchers that intoxication is caused by consuming large amounts of alcohol within a short time.

Sometimes this is referred to as binge drinking, which leads to severe consequences such as liver or mental diseases.

I believe what causes binge drinking might be linked to the demonisation of alcohol. This might be forcing especially the young people to hurriedly consume alcohol before authorities see them.

In other words, drinking is not enjoyed as it is meant to be. Yet, according to African tradition, drinking was a cultural and social event consumed slowly and, in many cases, in a celebratory manner.

However, the state has stifled the abundant supply of beer, which in theory, could have led to responsible drinking. The regulatory mechanisms are arbitrary and mainly protect foreign brewers.

Instead of developing local capacity to compete, the continent’s $13 billion market is dominated by four multinationals.

This has made most African beers be brewed informally, forcing them to go underground to avoid arrest. And affecting them not to show up in any global statistics.

In the meantime, most African businesses spend scarce resources to import liquor.

Some countries consider the Beer brewed in the African pot as lethal and an insignificant economic activity. It is a narrative that justifies the harassment of local beer producers.

As a result, local production is done under unhygienic conditions that sometimes make the product unsafe for human consumption.

Furthermore, local researchers, including the media, have been suggesting that local brews have high levels of alcoholic content, which causes instant drunkenness.

Yet, some imported beers and spirits have an alcohol content as high as 68 per cent and 96 per cent, respectively, and they never get to be reported.

Our failure to genuinely liberalise the brewing industry and regulate it could also result in a “scarcity mentality”, as described by Stephen Covey’s book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Our young people are already developing a scarcity mindset.

One doesn’t need to be a psychologist to notice that something is structurally wrong. Media stories have detailed emerging behaviours of young people that mirror Covey’s ideas.

Still, we have not interpreted the behaviours nor tried to look into what is causing the change.

As elaborated by Covey, the danger of a scarcity mindset makes victims spend much of their mental energy on what is lacking in their lives and not working, focusing on the negatives and finding it hard to trust others.

And defaulting to suspicion, among many other negative behaviour patterns detrimental to healthy mental development.

The beer debate lingers, and it should not be suppressed without evidence. The socioeconomic benefits outweigh many of the opposing arguments against brewing. It is for this purpose I acknowledge research.

For example, in 2019, Oxford Economics undertook the most comprehensive economic assessment of the beer industry in the world economy.

The study findings published last year established that the beer industry has a direct, indirect, or induced impact on one in every 110 jobs worldwide and that it has a total of $555 billion on the economic impact of the global GDP.

In addition, several other studies have documented the positive role of Beer in our cultural and social experiences.

The writer is Kenya’s Ambassador to Belgium, Mission to the European Union, Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States and World Customs Organization. The article is written at a personal level.