Coca-cola plans $100m Kenya investment over five years
Chukwuemeka Obioma is Businessamlive Reporter.
You can contact him on chukwuemeka.obioma@businessamlive.com with stories and commentary.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), the continent’s largest soft drinks bottler, said on Wednesday it would invest $100 million in Kenya over the next five years to improve infrastructure and launch new products.
Local managing director, Daryl Wilson said the company plans to introduce 50 new products in Kenya to add to the over 130 already existing brands on the African beverage market. The prospective brands would include varied sugar-free beverages and flavoured water content.
According to Daryl, “Kenyan tastes are growing, the need for new brands is growing.”
Information available to business a.m shows the company in April, launched a seven billion Kenyan Shilling ($69 million) new juice line at its Nairobi plant. Currently, it operates four bottling plants in Kenya, with a distribution system that includes 300 official distributors reaching across the East African country of 45 million people.
The company operates in a number of sub-Saharan African countries including Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Daryl reveals that Kenya is second regarding profits, after Ethiopia, where the company has plans to open at least four or five factories in the next five years.
Daryl, however, urged the Kenyan government to address the issue of electricity which is currently posing a challenge to the company as the irregular power supply has compelled the company to resort to the use of generators which are expensive.