AP - Mega beer merger bets on the rise of African drinkers

LONDON (AP) — Charles Kwara and his friends sit around an earthenware pot, sipping a frothy gray drink through long straws as laughter fills the Charismatic Club in the slums of Kampala, Uganda's capital.

The men joke that the crude brew of fermented millet known as "malwa" makes them feel both high and as if they'd just eaten. It's also what they can afford: they can drink malwa all evening for the cost of a single bottle of branded beer.

"This is cheap," says Kwara, a 47-year-old marketing manager who heads a drinking club. While they'd like bottled beer, home brew is the only option if they want a full night out. "Drinking is also a way of socializing for us," Kwara says.

The Charismatic Club, and brewers like it from Uganda to Ghana to South Africa, have something the makers of Budweiser want: potential customers. Click through the following link to read the full article: Mega beer merger bets on the rise of African drinkers

"Everyone is looking for the next big golden egg: It comes down to Africa," said Robert Besseling, a principal analyst on Africa at IHS, a global research firm. "Everyone is anticipating a boom — even though it hasn't happened yet." 

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