The Coca-Cola System in Nigeria, comprising Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd and Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd., has concluded plans to invest N560 billion in Nigeria.
The Managing Director of NBC, Mr Mathieu Seguin, while speaking at a press conference to flag off activities marking the company’s 70th-anniversary celebration in Nigeria, said the investment will be spread over five years.
The Coca-Cola System, through the bottling arm NBC, was incorporated in 1951.
According to Seguin, the company has invested $1.7 billion in the country since 2007 for expanding production capacity and building modern warehouses.
He said the investment will create jobs for teeming Nigerian youths across the value chain while embracing environmentally friendly logistics.
In the last five years, Coca-Cola System has created 58,000 jobs along its value chain, in addition to many others that it has outsourced.
”Over the next five years, we will be investing an additional N560 billion or $1 billion in our operations in Nigeria. With the additional capital injection, we are set to expand the capacity of our manufacturing plants in other parts of the country, to mirror the scope of operations at our Ikeja plant. This will ensure that all our product types and packaging options be within even closer reach of all our consumers nationwide,” he said.
With eight manufacturing plants, over 7,000 dealers, skilled and dedicated employees, and a sophisticated distribution system throughout Nigeria, Seguin said Coca-Cola was within consumers’ reach.
According to him, the company has continued to grow, and has invested heavily to influence the lives of the people in the communities where it works and operates.
Coca-Cola believes that its business is only as sustainable as the communities in which it operates, so it mainstreams sustainability into all aspects of its operations.
”For perspective, in the last 10 years alone, the Coke System has invested more than N9 billion in lifting the living standards of communities where we do business in Nigeria, through locally relevant initiatives.
”Some of the areas we have had the most impact have been in education and youth development, women empowerment, water, environmental sustainability, sports and the promotion of commerce and entrepreneurship,” Seguin said.