In 2014, China Investment Fund (CIF) did something different from other investment the Asian giant has come to be known for in Africa. It poured $180 million into a brewery in oil-rich Angola.

Supported by the Angolan government, which is keen on diversifying its economy as oil prices tumble globally, the Luanda-based brewery has this week launched its first beer brand, Bela, personally named by President Eduardo dos Santos.

Bela is now available in all shopping centers in the capital where Buhe Bater, general manager of the CIF  funded brewery, says there is no “off-season” for beer sales due to the warm weather all year round.

“We are determined to produce the best beer in Angola and Africa as a whole. Beer sells well here and it is normally warm all year round in Luanda and most parts of the country so there is no reason for sluggish sales,” Bater told Xinhua.

Consumers such as 45 year old Sebastio Junior are already enjoying Bela beer.

“I love Bela, the beer seems light but very tasty,” Junior said while taking a 12-bottle pack of Bela from the shelters of the Jumbo shopping mall in southern Luanda. “I called my friends to join me for Bela to mark Labor Day as we are having a day off.”

The CIF Luanda Brewery is one of the first pioneering Chinese enterprises operating in Angola. The venture includes fermenting and machinery rooms, boilers and generators , a filling area, ​wastewater treatment area, container area and a warehouse for the finished product.

According to Angolan news agency Angop,  the factory will provide employment to 250 Angolans and 170 foreigners.

During its commissioning in October last year, the Angolan minister of industry, Bernarda Martins, said the production of Bela place the country at a position to export beer to other African countries in the region.