Castel Group is strengthening African production and developing deeper local supply chains, while Angola demonstrates how its continental scale supports industrial growth and creates value within individual markets.
Castel Group is pursuing one of the most ambitious investment programs in its history across Africa, strengthening production, local sourcing, and industrial capabilities across its 22 markets while reinforcing its long-term commitment to the continent. Operating across beer, soft drinks, energy drinks, and water, the Group is using its continental footprint to bring more of its value chain closer to the economies it serves. For Group CEO Gregory Clerc, that direction rests on a long-term view. “Our long-term development had to rest on strong local roots, on real industrial sovereignty, and on a long-term vision,” he says.
Six greenfield projects are underway or under study, while 15 new production lines for glass, cans, and PET have been approved across existing sites. Nearly 60% of those lines are dedicated to returnable glass, extending a model that links industrial efficiency with circularity. Clerc sees the investment as an evolution of Castel’s established presence rather than a departure from it. “Modernization, for us, does not mean starting over,” he says. “It means building on more than seven decades of industrial presence on the continent and putting our scale to work for faster, more responsible transformation.”
That scale also gives Castel a broad view of changing consumer markets. “Being present in 22 countries gives us a unique vantage point on how African markets are evolving,” Clerc says. The Group continues to invest in brands, products, formats, and routes to market alongside the industrial capacity behind them. New products and partnerships introduced in 2026 form part of that response, with decisions increasingly shaped by the realities of individual markets.
Local supply chains are another part of that strategy. In Ethiopia, 85% of Castel’s raw materials are sourced locally, compared with 58% in Madagascar, while Malawi and Chad source all the cereals used in production domestically. Through Somdia and Malto, the Group is extending that approach into sugar, distilling, and malting. Almost 99% of its nearly 40,000 employees are local nationals. “Producing with Africa, not only in Africa, is what allows us to grow alongside the consumers and communities we serve,” Clerc says.
Packaging is another area where that investment is taking shape. The new glass, can, and PET lines bring more production closer to Castel’s markets, while the emphasis on returnable glass builds on systems already established across the continent. Together with investments in sourcing and processing, this reflects a model based on maintaining the advantages of a large African network while developing more of the production chain within individual markets. The result is a network that can share industrial expertise across borders while retaining the local knowledge, sourcing relationships, and production capacity developed in each market.
“Producing with Africa, not only in Africa, is what allows us to grow alongside the consumers and communities we serve.”
Angola provides one of the clearest examples. Castel Angola has been present in the country since 1994 and employs around 6,300 people. Its industrial network comprises eight factories, including seven beverage plants and a glass bottle facility, giving the business local control over an important part of its packaging chain. Brands including Cuca, Eka, Nocal, and N’Gola are supported by a distribution network reaching roughly 80,000 points of sale through direct commercial teams, wholesalers, semi-wholesalers, and supermarkets.
For Country Manager Diogo Victoria, proximity remains central to the operation.
“We are very near the consumer. The proximity is the key,” he says. That principle extends upstream: Castel Angola sources approximately 40,000 tons of grits, 3,000 tons of rice, and 15,000 tons of sugar locally and works with around 5,000 suppliers. Technical capability has developed alongside that sourcing base, with Angolan technicians now certified to produce Heineken in Luanda to the brand’s international standards. “Our Angolan technicians are able not only to produce our beer, but Heineken as well,” Victoria says.
Castel Angola is also looking beyond its domestic market. Existing production capacity and its presence near Lobito provide a base from which exports can grow as regional infrastructure improves. “Exports start to be strategic for us,” Victoria says. After more than three decades of industrial expansion in Angola, Castel now has the production, distribution, and supply-chain base to extend its reach beyond the domestic market.
Contact
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www.grupocastelangola.com
Produced independently of the TIME Africa newsroom by Penresa.