Coca-Cola is investing $1bn in its Nigeria operations over the next five years.
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC), whose national branch goes by the Nigerian Bottling Company name, is expected to get a cash injection in coming years to expand manufacturing capacity and ramp up sustainability efforts.
This includes production of returnable glass, expanding its packaging collection and recycling operations, and investing in energy-efficient coolers.
The funding will be used to support all areas of the value chain, including suppliers, distributors, retailers, and recyclers.
Coca-Cola HBC currently runs eight production plants in Nigeria, employing around 2,800 staff.
The capital investment underscores Coca-Cola’s “continued confidence in the Nigerian market and its promising future economic prospects”, it said.
The announcement was made as a high-ranking team of Coca-Cola’s executives – including Coca-Cola HBC CEO Zoran Bogdanovic and Coca-Cola Company president and CFO John Murphy – was hosted by Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the country’s State House.
The multinational, which has been present in the African economy for over 70 years, has invested $1.5bn in Nigeria over the last 10 years. The latest announcement represents a more than doubling of its rate of investment in the next five years.
Following the meeting, Murphy said that “the investment highlights our system’s efforts to drive scalable initiatives while also preserving the value of local relevance”.
“Coca-Cola has been an integral part of the African continent for over 96 years and today’s investment in Nigeria reiterates our optimism about the continent,” he added.
Coca-Cola and its local subsidiary NBC were earlier this year accused of fraudulent product labelling by the Nigerian consumer watch. The company said at the time it “strongly” believed it had complied with all regulations.
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