Coca-Cola has opened a new “mega plant” in Ethiopia’s Sebta City. The $100 million facility, which is 25 kilometers outside Addis Ababa, is outfitted with cutting-edge technology and is noted to have an employment capacity of 30,000 people.
The opening ceremony was attended by senior government authorities with several members of the press present.
The beverage company is 60 years established and serves as an indispensable factory in Ethiopia, with several employment opportunities for dozens of people.
“Today, the opening of this facility in this city is a tribute to Ethiopia’s development initiatives,” stated Ethiopian Minister of Industry Melaku Alebel.
The plant has the capacity to produce 70,000 racks of 24 bottles per day.
At this level, the group’s overall manufacturing capacity in the country will reach 100 million cases per year, making it a stronghold of the company’s presence on the continent.
“We have a project to better water usage across 41 countries in Africa we benefit more than 6000 families today, the second area that I want to touch on is package recycling we have the ambition that by 2030 we’ll take back every single bottle that we put into the market,” said Bruno Pietracci, President of Africa for the Coca-Cola company.
Coca-Cola has been operating in Ethiopia for more than 60 years, and the country today boasts of four Coca-Cola factories. Interestingly, the company has bottling operations in 13 African countries and employs over 16,000 people.
Coca-Cola’s Growth In Africa
Muhtar Kent, the CEO of Coca-Cola, spoke with CNN’s Zain Asher at the company’s global headquarters in Atlanta about the company’s expansion in Africa.
He explained that “Africa’s growth rate is faster than that of Western markets and other parts of the world, therefore it will continue to provide a growing portion of our revenue.”
Coca-Cola today employs over 70,000 people in Africa, with 145 bottling operations. It is one of the continent’s major private employers.
According to Coca-Cola, the organization invested around $5.5 billion in Africa over the last decade. We plan to invest around $17 billion this decade. As a result, we’re one of Africa’s largest investors.
On a similar note, Pepsi’s expansion, which is attempting to raise its game, particularly in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya has become a reason for Conversation. However, Coca-cola remains quite a giant in the African beverage scene regardless.
Read also; RyanAir Mandates Afrikaans Language Test For South Africans Before Flying
