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The Coca-Cola Company has stated its commitment to leverage the vast opportunity in Africa to drive the beverage company's long-term growth strategy. James Quincey, Global CEO and Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, disclosed this during his tour of Africa last week, according to a statement from the global beverage giant.

Accompanied by his leadership team, Quincey visited Nigeria and South Africa and met with business and political leaders. Among the notable personalities Quincey met was Aliko Dangote, President/CEO of Dangote Group and Africa’s richest man. Others were Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings; Doyin Salami, Chairman of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC); and Fred Swaniker, Co-Founder of Africa Leadership Academy. The Coca-Cola team also met with top executives from Discovery Group, MTN, Unilever and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The Coca-Cola Company, which offers over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories, is looking to scale up investments in Africa to boost its growth on the continent over the next decade.   

"Having operated in Africa for over 90 years as a local business in every country, we believe Africa is a region that will increasingly influence the growth trajectory of our global businesses in just a few years," Quincey said. "Together with our bottling partners, we continue to reinforce our stake on the continent by accelerating investments that strengthen and scale our capabilities and expand into new businesses to drive our Total Beverage Company aspiration."

He outlined the company's growth plans in Africa, including consolidating the bottling system to build scale and investing in new businesses to accelerate growth and expand the company's beverage offering. Quincey reiterated the company’s commitment to also increase investment in social and environmental sustainability in Africa. He said The Coca-Cola Company will commit to building a talent engine in Africa, creating shared opportunities to enhance the prosperity of communities across the continent.

"We have an enduring belief that our business is only as sustainable as the communities in which we operate, that means for our business to grow sustainably, our communities must grow also."

The global beverage giant cited this as the strong motivation it has for the significant investments it continues to make across Africa to help build more resilient communities, enabling the economic empowerment of women and youth downstream and upstream of Coca-Cola's supply chain. The company also said it will continue to provide access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities through its Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN).

Its other commitments on the continent include supporting governments to strengthen health systems through Project Last Mile and the Safe Birth Initiative; and addressing environmental concerns, particularly around plastic packaging with its World Without Waste vision.

"Over the past 90 years together with our bottling partners, we have built pervasive and very strong local businesses, creating shared opportunity in every country on the continent. This has been one of our greatest strengths and we will continue playing a significant role in Africa's sustainable and inclusive growth," said Quincey.