BUSINESS STRATEGY

Diageo sells majority stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries to Castel

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2025

Ongoing move to an ‘asset-light’ business model minimises ownership of physical assets and focuses on brand management and marketing.

London-based international drinks company Diageo has sold 80.4% of its shareholding in Guinness Ghana Breweries to the Castel Group. This continues an ongoing relationship with Castel as a partner in the African market.

Photo: Pexels

Diageo will retain ownership of the Guinness brand, as well as other Diageo brands currently produced by Guinness Ghana, which will be licensed to Guinness Ghana under a new long-term license and royalty agreement.

Diageo will continue to drive the brand and marketing strategy for the iconic Guinness brand, in partnership with Castel.

“Diageo’s flexible and asset-light beer operating model allows it to select the most appropriate structure and route-to-market based on local conditions, supporting greater efficiency and profitability, while Diageo continues to drive the brand and marketing strategy,” the company says in a press release.

All Diageo brands currently produced by Guinness Ghana (Guinness, Malta, Orijin, Smirnoff Ice and Alvaro, and mainstream spirits) will continue to be produced under the new license and royalty agreements.

Castel Africa has had a presence on the continent since the 1960s and is a key player in the production and distribution of beverages, with 640,000 points of sale. It operates in 21 African countries and employs around 40,000 people.

Move away from brewing in Africa

Diageo has moved away from brewing in Africa as part of its shift to an ‘asset-light’ business model. This strategy minimises ownership of physical assets and instead relies on partnerships with local companies to manufacture and distribute its products. It then focuses on brand management and marketing.

Diageo sold Guinness Cameroon to Castel in 2022 for US$460-million. In the same year, it sold its Meta Abo brewery in Ethiopia to Castel. Last year (2024) it sold its 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria to Tolaram.

Comments Trendtype, the emerging markets consultancy: “The sale of Guinness Ghana means that East African Breweries Limited (EABL), Diageo’s brewery operation in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, is its only remaining beer business in Africa.

“With the Kenyan stock market recovering strongly and investors looking to capitalise and exit … there is a strong possibility [that] Diageo will look to sell its brewing business in East Africa in 2025.”

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