Tanzania’s Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL Group) announced on Wednesday, May 14, 2026, plans to build a Sh6.5 billion ($50 million) soft drinks manufacturing plant in Mombasa, in what would be the conglomerate’s first major industrial investment in Kenya and a direct challenge to the dominance of Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the country’s beverage market.
The announcement was made by MeTL Group chief executive Mohammed Dewji on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi. “I’m setting up a plant in Uganda, and I have land in Mombasa now, and I’m looking into setting up a carbonated soft drink plant,” Dewji said. “We are right now at the drawing table, but we think that it is very possible that within 12 months, we may be able to break ground,” he added.
The Mombasa facility will produce MeTL’s flagship beverage brands, Mo Cola, Mo Xtra, and Mo Malto, which have already gained significant popularity in Tanzania. The pricing strategy is central to the plan: Mo Cola would retail at approximately Sh15 per 300ml bottle in Kenya, compared with the industry average of around Sh40 for competing products, a gap Dewji believes will open the market to millions of price-sensitive consumers currently underserved by mainstream brands.
Stephen Mutoro, secretary general of the Consumers Federation of Kenya, said existing beverage brands do not adequately serve low income consumers, the very gap MeTL’s model is designed to exploit.
MeTL Group was founded by Gulamabbas Dewji in Dar es Salaam in the 1970s as a small trading company and has since grown into one of the region’s most diversified conglomerates, operating across manufacturing, agriculture, energy, logistics, and consumer goods in over 11 African countries, with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion. Forbes ranks Mohammed Dewji as East Africa’s richest person, with a net worth of $2.1 billion.
Analysts say success will depend on pricing discipline tight enough to hold the Sh15 price point, distribution infrastructure capable of reaching the mass market beyond Nairobi and Mombasa, and marketing spending sufficient to build brand recognition against rivals that have been in the market for generations. Dewji said MeTL is evaluating both a greenfield investment and potential acquisitions or partnerships with existing Kenyan players as it finalizes its market entry strategy
