Indigenous technological capability development in the brewing industry in Nigeria: An engineering economic assessment and policy implications

Abstract

The substitution of sorghum for barley malt is a successful indigenous technology capability (ITC) development in the brewing industry in Nigeria. However, this ITC was accompanied by milling, mashing, and lautering problems. The milling problem was solved by adapting the existing barley malt cleaner to sorghum grain at no cost. The use of external enzymes and installation of a mash filter eliminated the mashing and lautering problems. However, the use of malted sorghum, with a simple modification of the existing line without the addition of external enzymes, could solve these problems at reduced cost. A brewery wishing to adopt this process should have a malting plant to guarantee the quality and steady supply of malt. Such a malting plant of 6000 tonnes annual capacity and operating at full capacity could generate additional internal rate of return (IRR) of 32.5%, which is greater than the existing bank interest rate (13%). The policy which emphasized the use of local raw material is very effective in the brewing industry in Nigeria. However, the government should pursue the policy on the production of steel products which are essential for the fabrication of food‐processing facilities to enhance ITC development in the industry.

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