- Bloomberg says $167 million worth of foreign investments left the country
- Watch video
As more companies exit Nigeria on account of the harsh business environment, the Coca-Cola Company, one of the many multinationals exploring friendlier climes for their businesses announced its intention to grow its investment in Kenya by up to $175 million over the next five years, should the business achieve its anticipated growth targets in the country.
Hosting Kenyan President H.E. Dr William Ruto at The Coca-Cola Company’s headquarters in Atlanta, Sunil Gupta, CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, said, “The Coca-Cola system has been an integral part of Kenya’s landscape for more than 75 years. Today, we are excited to announce our intention to strengthen this legacy through a substantial investment.”
“This investment is aimed at accelerating the Coca-Cola system’s capacity and capability expansion over the next five years. Our decision to invest underscores our belief in the long-term potential of Kenya’s economy,” Gupta said.
Luisa Ortega, President of The Coca-Cola Company’s Africa Operating Unit, emphasized the importance of collaboration with the government to create a stable policy environment. “The Coca-Cola system has been part of communities in Kenya for more than seven decades. We are excited to continue growing our business and supporting communities across Kenya for many years to come,” said Ortega.
The Coca-Cola system has a rich legacy of refreshing Africa and making a difference in the East Africa region, where it is a major employer, directly employing 10,000 people.
The Coca-Cola system also works with over 500,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises across the region, giving the company a direct connection to the experiences shared by many businesses in Kenya and across the East African region.
“Our value chain supports livelihoods for over a million people in distribution, sales and other roles,” said Gupta. “We source close to 8,000 metric tons of mango puree from East African farmers. We believe in the region’s potential and its ability to achieve significant growth through collaboration between public and private sectors. Our business in Kenya is centered on a local approach – we hire locally, produce locally, distribute locally and source locally.”
“We are optimistic and fully committed to Kenya’s future. We foresee great social and economic advancement, and this is why we continue to invest in our Kenyan business as well as community programs that help strengthen Kenya’s prosperity,” Ortega concluded.
Earlier in the year, President of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Wale Oyerinde remarked that: “Beyond the general context of business decisions, while a business has the right to change its mode of operation or decide on the environment in which it wants to operate, the reality is that the challenging regulatory environment for doing business has been a factor that everyone has been complaining about. Even, local businesses are aware of the current issues and also complain about the high regulatory environment, which is not very friendly, including the legislative environment…
“The government is not addressing this as urgently as possible. We have asked, and some people in the government have stated that these companies are also leaving Kenya; they are leaving Rwanda and moving to Europe. The issue is this: it should be laughable to compare Rwanda and Kenya to Nigeria. Nigeria has probably the highest youth population in Africa, and the world, excluding India and China. It would be a laughable and unfortunate comment if that was said. We have one of the largest populations, and if they are leaving Kenya or Rwanda, then they should create an environment where they should be coming here. Justifying that they are leaving other places too is a lazy excuse.”
Bloomberg reports that: “The main reason is the difficulty the firms face in getting their money back home due to the lack of dollars in Nigeria’s economy. The nearest slump over the past year, along with rising prices, are also slashing the profits of conglomerates.
Watch Bloomberg’s video on why big businesses are leaving Nigeria.
