Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT | East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) has announced a new $5 million (Sh8 billion) programme to support the revival of bars and eateries in the region after restrictions are lifted following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund dubbed “Raising the Bar” will from next month help support outlets in East Africa’s biggest hospitality centres by providing targeted support to help pay for the physical equipment needed for outlets to re-open.
The EABL initiative is part of new $100 million global Diageo programme to help outlets and bars recover from COVID-19 and support jobs and communities around the world
EABL are East Africa’s leading branded alcohol beverage business and part of the Diageo Group and have business units in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. EABL is listed in the Nairobi, Kampala and Dar es Salaam securities exchanges.
Raising the bar
“Raising the Bar” has been created following a survey of bar owners to identify key priorities for reopening, EABL said in a statement on Wednesday. Their top priorities included hygiene measures, digital support and practical equipment to transform how their outlets will work when they reopen.
Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive of Diageo commented: ‘Pubs and bars sit at the heart of every community. We have launched “Raising the Bar” as so many outlets have been forced to close by this crisis and badly need help to open their doors again.”
Andrew Cowan, EABL CEO continued: “We want to support the long-term recovery of the hospitality sector. These businesses play an essential role in bringing people together to socialise and celebrate – something that we have all missed so much during this terrible crisis – and sustain hundreds of millions of jobs, often providing a first foot on the employment ladder for young people.”
The fund, EABL said, will roll out over the next two years as cities emerge at different stages from restrictions
It will be a two-year programme available from July 2020 offering eligible outlets and bars free access to digital training and support.
The UN’s International Labour Organization has forecast that 436 million enterprises worldwide face serious disruption and one in six young people will be unemployed due to COVID-19. The hospitality sector will be one of the hardest hit, as pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants provide hundreds of millions of jobs for many full and part-time workers.