A new Pepsi bottling plant is being built in in the Kiswishi Special Economic Zone (SEZ) near Lubumbashi. Varun Beverages RDC SAS, the Congolese subsidiary of India’s Varun Beverages Limited, officially launched the project on June 12, 2025. The Indian group is one of PepsiCo’s largest bottling partners outside the United States.

Announced in September 2024, the project spans 15 hectares and represents a $50 million investment. Strategically located along National Road No. 1 (RN1), the plant is expected to serve Lubumbashi and the broader Haut-Katanga province. A completion date has not yet been disclosed.

According to Varun Beverages, the factory is set to generate thousands of jobs and strengthen PepsiCo’s footprint in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—a market the group describes as highly promising.

Strong Results Fuel Expansion

The new Kiswishi plant will complement the company’s existing production site in Maluku, near Kinshasa. Operational since August 2024, that factory produces up to 1.2 million bottles daily. With six products in its portfolio, the Maluku plant posted impressive results in 2024, generating 104.9 billion Congolese francs (approximately $36.8 million USD) in revenue, and a net profit of 2.17 billion francs (about $761,800 USD), based on the group’s annual report.

Pepsi and Mirinda led the company’s performance, accounting for the bulk of sales. Over 5.7 million bottles of Pepsi were sold, worth 49.6 billion francs, while Mirinda reached 5.3 million bottles and 46.2 billion francs in sales.

The new plant benefits from both the fiscal incentives of the SEZ and government policies aimed at protecting domestic manufacturers. On June 26, 2024, the Ministry of External Trade imposed a 12-month temporary ban on soft drink imports to shield the local industry from foreign competition.

This article was initially published in French by Timothée Manoke (intern)

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho