Nigerian Breweries Plc Chief Executive Officer, Thibaut Boidin, discusses the company’s 80th anniversary and Nigeria’s business environment with FELIX OLOYEDE
What does Nigerian Breweries’ 80th anniversary mean to you?
For us, it is a celebration of 80 years of leadership and contribution to Nigeria. Nigerian Breweries pioneered Nigeria’s brewing industry in 1946, and over the past eight decades, we have helped shape and grow the sector.
This milestone gives us an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come, but it also challenges us to look ahead. We are celebrating our history while considering the role we want to play in Nigeria over the next 80 years.
What inspired the choice of the theme “Together, Every Moment”?
You like it, right? It’s a great theme. We chose “Together, Every Moment” because we wanted this anniversary to be more than a celebration of our company. We wanted it to be a celebration of Nigerians and the moments that have brought people together over the past 80 years.
When you look at life in Nigeria over that period, our brands have been present in many memorable moments, from weddings and anniversaries to sporting events, family gatherings, celebrations with friends and everyday moments of connection. For 80 years, we have been part of the lives and stories of Nigerians.
Our contribution also goes beyond our products. We see ourselves not only as a manufacturer, but also as a long-term partner in Nigeria’s development. We have contributed through employment, local investment, agriculture, community development and the wider value chain that supports thousands of livelihoods.
We have a significant footprint across the country, and wherever we operate, we aim to contribute meaningfully to the surrounding communities. Our agricultural initiatives demonstrate this commitment by supporting local farmers and helping to develop the cultivation of important raw materials in Nigeria.
Through our international and local brands, we have also brought excitement, aspiration and memorable experiences to consumers. That is what “Together, Every Moment” represents: our economic contribution, our role in society and the joy of true togetherness that our brands help create.
How would you characterise your experience operating in the Nigerian market?
From a business perspective, Nigeria is a dynamic and complex market. Like many emerging economies, it has experienced periods of significant economic and regulatory volatility. This makes long-term planning challenging, but Nigerian Breweries has remained committed throughout the different economic and political cycles of the past 80 years.
At the same time, Nigeria offers enormous growth potential. It has one of the fastest-growing populations in the world and is projected to become one of the world’s most populous countries. We believe the brewing industry can eventually grow to several times its current size, and we see Nigeria as one of the important drivers of future growth for Heineken globally.
The third dimension is the people. There is something unique about the joy, resilience, energy and commitment of Nigerians. These qualities are outstanding and unlike anything I have experienced elsewhere.
With business recovery a priority, how is Nigerian Breweries improving its financial health amid persistent pressure on consumers’ disposable income?
When I arrived, one of our immediate priorities was to restore the health of our balance sheet and strengthen the company’s financial position.
We have made significant progress. Through operating-profit growth, disciplined working-capital management and tighter inventory management, we have rebuilt our cash position and eliminated our loans. In a volatile operating environment, cash generation and financial flexibility are extremely important.
Our objective was to restore the company’s financial strength so that we could invest confidently in growth. We ended 2025 in a much stronger position, and the progress has continued in 2026. Our improved financial position gives us the flexibility to finance our growth priorities from our own resources.
We are gaining market share, and our brands continue to strengthen. We are seeing positive momentum across volumes, revenue and operating profit. The business is in a much stronger position today, and we are optimistic about the outlook.
However, pressure on consumer disposable income remains one of the biggest challenges facing the industry. Over the past several years, industry volumes have declined as economic pressures have affected consumers’ purchasing power and their ability to enjoy products across different categories.
During the most difficult period in 2023 and 2024, companies across the market had to adjust prices to respond to unprecedented cost inflation and currency devaluation. For Nigerian Breweries, the alternative would have been to operate at an unsustainable level.
Now that our financial position has improved, we are approaching pricing with considerable care. We understand the importance of affordability and want consumers to continue enjoying our products. Throughout the year, we have worked hard to balance affordability with the need to manage a challenging cost environment.
This requires tight cost discipline and considerable creativity from our teams. We are constantly looking for new ways to work more efficiently, reduce costs and improve productivity.
It allows us to do two things: first, limit the extent to which costs are passed on to consumers; and second, free up resources to invest in future growth. A significant proportion of the savings we have generated has been reinvested in growing the business.
What is Nigerian Breweries’ approach to backward integration, which the government continues to promote?
Backward integration is not new to Nigerian Breweries. The localization of raw materials has been part of our history for decades.
Sorghum is a good example. When access to imported barley became restricted, the company had to innovate and develop alternatives. That led to the increased use of locally sourced sorghum in some of our products. It is an example of the creativity and resilience that have defined Nigerian Breweries over the past 80 years.
We now want to accelerate our localization efforts. Although HEINEKEN is Nigerian Breweries’ majority shareholder, Nigerian Breweries is a Nigerian company. We are committed to ensuring that, as much as possible, the value we create remains within the Nigerian economy.
Our local barley initiative is part of that commitment. Many of our agricultural and packaging inputs are already sourced locally, including sorghum, glass and aluminium. We want to reduce our dependence on imports and use our scale and market leadership to support the development of a stronger local value chain.
There are, of course, challenges. For example, most of the industry’s glass requirements must be sourced locally. This creates an important opportunity to support domestic industry, but it also means we must work closely with local suppliers to ensure that the value chain remains competitive, efficient and capable of supporting future investment.
As Chairman of the Beer Sectoral Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, I have also been working with industry stakeholders on a master plan for the brewing sector.
Our ambition is to identify how the industry can contribute more significantly to Nigeria’s economic growth. Given our history in the country and our commitment to the future, we believe the brewing industry can make a meaningful contribution to Nigeria’s ambition to build a larger, more competitive economy.
The master plan will focus on further localising production and raw materials while advancing sustainability, circularity and responsible consumption across the industry.
Returnable packaging is a particularly important part of this. A substantial proportion of the industry’s packaging consists of returnable glass bottles. These bottles can be collected, reused and returned to the market several times, making them an important component of a more circular economy.
Beyond localisation and sustainability, the industry also needs a predictable operating environment. Companies of our scale make significant, long-term investments, and those decisions require visibility on future regulations, policies and economic priorities.
We support the direction of the ongoing economic reforms and believe they can strengthen Nigeria over the long term. Greater regulatory clarity and consistency will give businesses the confidence to make the substantial investments required to unlock the industry’s full potential.
What can consumers expect from the company’s 80th anniversary celebrations?
We have launched our “Together, Every Moment” campaign, which gives Nigerians an opportunity to participate in the celebration.
Through our digital and social media platforms, people can share photographs and stories of moments when Nigerian Breweries and our brands have been part of their lives. These may include weddings, anniversaries, sporting events, gatherings with friends and many other moments of connection and celebration.
We will recognise and reward some of the most compelling stories. The intention is to make this an inclusive celebration in which Nigerians can see themselves.
This was a deliberate choice. We did not want it to be only a company anniversary; we wanted it to be a celebration of Nigerians and the moments we have shared over 80 years.
Beyond the anniversary, consumers can expect us to continue delivering exceptional products and creating experiences they have not seen before.
With Heineken, for example, we have begun creating experiences that only a global brand of its stature can deliver. We recently brought large-scale hot-air balloons to Lagos as part of a week of consumer experiences connected to Formula One, football and entertainment.
We have also created memorable experiences around fashion and the UEFA Champions League, including an extraordinary drone show in Lagos.
Consumers can expect even more distinctive and memorable experiences from our brands in the months and years ahead.
What value can shareholders expect over the next five to 10 years?
Our shareholders are investing in one of Nigeria’s oldest and most resilient manufacturing companies.
Over the past 80 years, Nigerian Breweries has demonstrated that it can navigate difficult economic cycles, adapt to change and continue investing in the country. Even through the recent period of significant headwinds, we remained committed to Nigeria, strengthened our portfolio and continued to lead the industry.
Today, we have restored the company to a much stronger financial position. Our financial restructuring and renewed capacity to invest in growth give us confidence in the future of the business.
Our focus remains on creating sustainable, long-term value for shareholders. We will continue to pursue disciplined growth, strengthen our brands, improve productivity and maintain a healthy financial position.
Our 80-year history provides evidence of our resilience, but we are not relying only on our history. We are opening a new chapter for Nigerian Breweries, with the financial strength and ambition required to pursue the opportunities ahead.
What are your expectations for the brewing industry in 2027?
It is difficult to predict precisely because several important economic and political developments lie ahead. I believe the industry’s return to sustained growth will take time, particularly while consumers continue to face pressure on disposable income.
However, this is a highly competitive market with strong players. I welcome that competition because healthy competition challenges every company to improve, innovate and deliver greater value. Ultimately, that benefits consumers.
Through the industry master plan and our engagement with government and other stakeholders, we want to help create an ecosystem where the industry can grow sustainably, and consumers can benefit.
There is considerable long-term potential to unlock. Per capita consumption in Nigeria remains significantly below the average in many other sub-Saharan African markets. This suggests that the industry has substantial headroom for future growth as economic conditions and consumer purchasing power improve.
The industry has come through an exceptionally difficult period, and companies are beginning to recover. There is still significant work to be done, but I am optimistic about the long-term outlook for Nigerian Breweries and the wider brewing sector.