Coca-Cola says it’s invested over $120m in Ghana’s economy since 1995

World’s manufacturer of beverages, Coca-Cola Bottling Company, says its investment into the Ghanaian economy exceeds $120 million from 1995 to date.

Officials of the company say the $120 million investment was when the Equatorial section of the company took over operations in the country since 1995.

“If you look at Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling, they have been here since 1995 and if you look from that period till now, they have invested over $120 million into the Ghanaian economy,” Mr Philippe Ayivor, Public Affairs and Communications Director of the company told ghanabusinessnews.com during a press soiree in Accra on July 29, 2011.

Mr Ayivor explains that these investments have gone into some infrastructure of the company, payment of taxes, purchasing of glasses among others.

“We’ve built a brand new plant, every year the amount of glass that we purchase is millions of dollars, refrigerators as you see at the various outlets is millions of dollars – taxes that we pay,” he said.

Mr. Ayivor disclosed that the company will be spending about $2 million in communities in the country this year saying “we are spending like $2 million in communities this year… Water health centres that we are building, schools that we are building and the biogas facility that we are putting in place – We want to do a lot in our communities.”

The biogas could be used for the schools we are putting in place to cook for the school feeding programme, he said.

“So we really have a major impact on the Ghanaian economy.”

Coca-Cola employs over 1000 Ghanaians as local suppliers and local distribution systems in the country. It has a wide range of products from water, energy drinks, juices and now producing malt.

Mr Ayivor indicates that the company will continue to add unto its products but says “We are driven by what consumers want to buy…as people’s income rises, they have needs for different products – we produce products to meet the lifestyle of our consumers.”

At the Press Soiree, Coca-cola presented a cheque of GH¢3000 to the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr. Ransford Tetteh to sponsor this year’s GJA Awards.

Presenting the cheque, Mr. Reiner Becker, Franchise Manager of Coca-Cola Equatorial, said the sponsorship package is for the Best Health Reporting Award for the year.

He said the company is committed to helping Ghana achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on health by 2015.

The amount will be used to purchase an imported shield, a certificate and a laptop, according to the GJA General Secretary, Mr Bright Blewu.

Mr Becker announced that from this year, Coca-Cola will hold an annual training session for journalists to upgrade their skills.

This will be known as the “Coca-Cola Media Training for Excellence.”

“We will hold the first session in the Ashanti region, followed by other regions…We have already held discussions with the GJA about the training,” he said.

By Ekow Quandzie