The Coca-Cola Company has announced plans to invest $1 billion in Nigerian economy over the next five years.
The company’s president and chief financial officer, Mr John Murphy, who announced this on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, disclosed that Coca-Cola’s business in Nigeria generates N320 billion annually to the company through nearly 300,000 customers and contributes almost N90 billion in revenue to the Nigerian government.
Murphy, who led the Chairman of Nigerian Bottling Company, Ambassador Segun Apata and other management of the firm to the meeting 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,” he said.
This contained in a statement on Thursday, by the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, titled: “We’re building a strong financial system, business-friendly economy, President Tinubu says as Coca-cola announces $1billion investment in Nigeria.”
According to the statement, President Tinubu while responding reiterated his government commitment to creating a robust financial system and a business-friendly economy that will attract more foreign direct investments.
President Tinubu commended Coca-Cola for its long-standing partnership with Nigeria and for promoting investment opportunities that have employed over 3000 people across nine production facilities.
”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 said.
President Tinubu told the delegation that private sector partnerships, which sustain investments, are central to his government’s far-reaching reforms to improve the business environment.
He pledged that the government would continue partnering with Coca-Cola to expand investments in Nigeria and address environmental issues, including climate change.
”The size of this country is enormous in Africa, and the consumption capacity of Nigeria is expanding daily,” President Tinubu added while commending the company for scaling up its skill development and community initiatives as part of its corporate social responsibility.
Earlier the statement noted that Mr Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, explained that the company’s confidence in Nigerian government policies had encouraged it to make the $1 billion investment pledge.
”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 $ 1.5 billion 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 $1 billion 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,” he said.
