Coca Cola visits Tinubu where it announces plans to invest $1bn in Nigeria over the next five years

COCA-Cola has announced plans to invest $1bn in Nigeria over the next five years under an ambitious programme that involve the expansion of its existing bottling plants and the creation of thousands of more jobs.

At a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, the company said it had great faith in the Nigerian market and was in the country as a long-term player. Among those who met with President Tinubu were the president and chief financial officer o0f Coca-Cola John Murphy and the chairman of the Nigerian Bottling Company, Ambassador Segun Apata.

Applauding the development, President Bola Tinubu said that his government was committed to creating a robust financial system and a business-friendly economy that will attract more foreign direct investments. He commended Coca-Cola for its long-standing partnership with Nigeria and for promoting investment opportunities that have employed over 3,000 people across nine production facilities.

President Tinubu added: “We are business-friendly and as I said at my inauguration, we must create an environment of easy-in and easy-out for businesses.  We are building a financial system where you can invest, re-invest and repatriate all your dividends. I have a firm belief in that.”

He also told the delegation that private sector partnerships, which sustain investments, are central to his government’s far-reaching reforms to improve the business environment. Also, the president pledged that his government would continue partnering with Coca-Cola to expand investments in Nigeria and address environmental issues, including climate change.

President Tinubu commending the company for scaling up its skill development and community initiatives as part of its corporate social responsibility. Mr Murphy noted that Coca-Cola generates N320bn annually through nearly 300,000 customers and contributes almost N90bn in revenue to the Nigerian government.

He said: “We are very proud of the growth of the business over a long period and its impact on the daily lives of many Nigerians.  Beyond the financial impacts, we are also very committed to supporting the communities, and over the last number of years, we’ve had a special focus on several areas in the world of sustainability, water packaging and others.”

Zoran Bogdanovic the chief executive of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, explained that the company’s confidence in the Nigerian government policies had encouraged it to make the $1bn investment pledge.  He said: "Mr President, in your inaugural address, we were very pleased to hear of your invitation for foreign investors to invest and your assurance that foreign businesses can repatriate dividends and profits.

"That assurance gives us the confidence to continue our investments. Since 2013, we have invested $ 1.5bn in Nigeria in capacity expansion, transformation of our supply chain infrastructure capabilities, training and development.

”I am very pleased to announce that, with a predictable and enabling environment in place, we plan to invest an additional  $1bn over the next five years. We believe Nigeria’s potential is tremendous, and we are committed to working with the government to realise this potential.”