At book reading, Dutch journalist recounts exposé on Heineken’s unethical practices in Africa

Dutch investigative journalist Oliver Beerman revisited his findings on Heineken’s operations in Africa during a book reading event in Abuja on Saturday.

The 2019 book, ’The Dark Side of Heineken’s African Beer Empire’, details the findings of six years of research and investigation into the multinational brewing company’s activities across 13 African countries, including Nigeria.

The book sheds light on various issues surrounding Heineken’s operations, which were brought to life during the event as Mr Beerman shared his in-depth findings.

It detailed what the author described as Heineken’s history of unethical operations, such as high-level corruption, suppression of local brewers, and collaborations with authoritarian regimes and rebel factions in Africa.

Speaking at the event, co-organised by RovingHeights Bookstore, which operates a chain of bookstores in Lagos and Abuja, and BookCraft Africa, the book’s publisher, the author said that Africa remains a highly profitable market for Heineken. The reading took place at one of RovingHeights’ store in Abuja.

Mr Beerman emphasised that weak government regulations have allowed the company to engage in unethical advertising and business practices over the years.

Mr Beemen said the book revealed how, marketing-wise, the multinational had more liberty in Africa than it did in Western countries, where the regulations were strict and enforced.

“If you go to Enugu, where Heineken has a huge brewery there. There are some schools built by the company, painted in colours of the brewery and then the brewery’s logo is designed on the walls of the schools.

“Normally, this should be a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but in this case, it is another form of advertisement.”

The journalist also noted that many people are unaware that Heineken brews beer in several African countries, including Nigeria.

He explained that citizens perceive products like Primus in Congo and Gulder, Goldberg, and Star Radler in Nigeria as national brands. However, behind these brands is Heineken, which ultimately reaps the profits.

He added that the company pretends to be local, even prints the Congolese flag on beer bottles sold in the Democratic Republic of Congo to make the product appear truly national.

Yet, in the end, the profits go to Heineken’s shareholders outside the country, according to the book.

Nigeria’s big beer market

Mr Beemen said that although the company claims to be dedicated to the growth, development, and revenue of its host countries, his investigation, documented in the book, showed that it has failed to uphold this promise.

Mr Beemen said Nigeria is Heineken’s second most profitable market after Mexico.

For Heineken, Nigeria, according to the journalist, is by far the most important African country.

Reading an excerpt from the book, Mr Beeman said Nigeria delivers about half of the brewer’s continent-wide turnover.

“It’s the law of numbers here: Lagos, the economic capital, is the heart of a conurbation that 20 million people call home.

“Nigeria as a whole is more than 200 million strong; no other African nation comes anywhere near. Since the turn of the century, it has stabilised somewhat and has become substantially large.”

Mr Beemen also stated that although “Heineken has a slogan on brewing a better country, it has failed to live up to this claim.”

Exploitation of sex workers

Also, the book revealed the high level of corruption carried out by business executives in Africa and targeted misinformation and the exploitation of women to market products.

According to Mr Beemen, The CEO of Heineken Nigeria, Festus Odimegwu, used sex workers to promote beer, increase sales and demarket other brewing companies that were considered competitors.

Reading another excerpt from the book, the journalist said, “Heineken hired almost 2,500 young women to support and help launch a massive marketing and publicity campaign for a local brand.

“Guinness had begun a campaign for their own clear beer, Harp, thus violating the informal agreement with Heineken. ‘It was a declaration of war. Nigerian Breweries brewed its own dark beer, called Legend Extra Stout, but sold very little of it. That had to change.

“However, given his limited resources, Odimegwu would never be able to compete with an iconic brand that was hugely popular: We asked ourselves the question: Where does the brand meet the client? In the bar. And how do we reach the client in the most efficient way? First of all, via the barman. So it’s him we pay for the bottle tops he hands to us. And then there’s the prostitutes.

“In Nigeria, the upper and middle classes drink in clubs without prostitution but poor people go to bars where you pay 2,000 naira (around 10 dollars at the time) to sleep with a woman.

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“And so it came to pass that the company designated 500 well-frequented bars as so-called hot spots, where young women had to promote the beer. When I ask if they were also encouraged to sleep with the clients, Odimegwu’s eyes grow large as he looks at me, “what kind of question is that? Of course, they are prostitutes.”

However, Mr Beemen said when he reached out to Henekein about his findings, the business executives in Netherlands said when this occurred, ethics had not become a serious conversation.

“You are looking at the past with eyes of now. Back then, ethical questions were not as important as the present,” the journalist said echoing the Heineken executives’ defence.

“But I show in the book that already in the 1990s, people who were already thinking of business ethics had begun asking Heineken questions about some of its practices,” he said further.