Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji is preparing a $50 million soft drinks manufacturing plant in Kenya as he ramps up efforts to challenge The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo in East Africa’s largest economy with low-cost beverages that transformed Tanzania’s consumer market.
The planned facility, to be built in the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa through Dewji’s conglomerate MeTL Group, will produce the company’s flagship beverages including Mo Cola, Mo Xtra, and Mo Malto.
Business Daily reported that MeTL plans to sell 300-millilitre bottles of Mo Cola at about 15 Kenyan shillings ($0.12), significantly below competing products that typically retail at around 40 shillings.
Dewji told reporters the project is already in the planning stage and construction could begin within the next 12 months.
“I’m setting up a plant in Uganda, and I now have land in Mombasa. I’m also looking into establishing a carbonated soft drinks plant,” Dewji said.
