Since making our African debut in 1928—when the first bottle of our flagship beverage was sold in Johannesburg, South Africa—we have used the power of our brands and business to make a meaningful difference across the continent. Today, Coca‑Cola operates in 54 African countries, working with around 30 bottling partners to serve local markets and communities.
From our earliest days in Africa, we have contributed to local economies by creating a multiplier effect across our value chain and continually investing in the continent’s future. We manufacture locally, distribute locally, and where possible, source locally—ensuring that the benefits of our business stay rooted in the communities we serve.
Coca‑Cola’s operations in Africa have long been anchored in our core values. In 1986, we closed our offices in South Africa, divested our local business interests, and established the $10 million Equal Opportunities Foundation to support victims of apartheid and help build a post‑apartheid society through investments in education, housing, and business development. The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu once praised the company as a model for other responsible corporations to follow.
When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, Coca‑Cola executive Carl Ware became the first American business leader to meet him the following year. On the day of Mandela’s inauguration in 1994, our company executives were invited to his presidential office to mark Coca‑Cola’s official return to South Africa. According to Ware, our executives returned 100 days later to reaffirm plans to “build a system that embraces the spirit of the new South Africa".
In the decades since, we have continued to partner with governments, civil society, and the private sector to help address some of Africa’s most pressing priorities. These efforts include empowering women, providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation and strengthening Africa’s health systems. Our long‑standing presence on the continent, working with locally owned bottlers and suppliers, enables more sustainable growth and allows us to make a lasting impact in local communities through our unique operating model.
Our Continued Commitment and Investment in Local Communities
An Africa‑wide socio‑economic impact study conducted by global consultancy Steward Redqueen highlights the scale of this contribution. In 2024, the Coca‑Cola system—comprising The Coca‑Cola Company and our authorized bottlers, alongside an extensive network of suppliers, manufacturers, service providers, and customers—contributed $10.4 billion in value‑added economic activity across Africa. The system supported more than one million jobs across sectors including retail, agriculture, manufacturing, transport, and services, including 36,800 direct jobs and 987,000 indirect jobs. Collectively, this means we supported 27 additional jobs for every job we directly created. The study also found that the system invested $4.3 billion in the African economy through purchases from local suppliers, representing 83 percent of our total procurement.
Sustainability remains a priority in Africa. Through the Coca‑Cola system’s Africa Water Stewardship Initiative, The Coca‑Cola Company in Africa and our bottling partners—Coca‑Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), Equatorial Coca‑Cola Bottling Company (ECCBC), and Coca‑Cola HBC—are investing nearly $25 million between 2024 and 2030 to address critical water challenges in 20 African countries. Led by Global Water Challenge (GWC) and implemented with partners including The Nature Conservancy (TNC), The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the initiative aims to protect key watersheds and improve access to water and sanitation in communities across the continent.
We are also advancing our packaging strategy across Africa. In Nigeria, the Coca‑Cola system commissioned a state‑of‑the‑art Packaging Collection Hub in Apapa, Lagos, capable of processing up to 13,000 metric tonnes of plastic bottles annually. The facility supports PET collection, produces clean PET bales, and enables rPET production through third‑party partnerships, helping to contribute to cleaner communities and reduce packaging waste. In addition, The Coca‑Cola Foundation announced a $10 million grant to IUCN through the IslandPlas project, to reduce packaging waste across seven African islands while improving livelihoods and driving innovation in the informal waste sector.
Our investment commitments underscore our long‑term confidence in Africa. In Nigeria, the Coca‑Cola system announced plans in 2024 to invest up to $1 billion over five years, building on $1.5 billion invested over the past decade. In the same year, the system signaled our intention to invest up to $175 million in Kenya over five years, subject to achieving anticipated growth targets.
Strengthening health systems is another area of impact. Through Project Last Mile, a public‑private partnership operating across Africa, we apply our expertise in distribution and marketing to help governments deliver medicines and health supplies more efficiently, particularly in hard‑to‑reach communities. In Mozambique for instance, Project Last Mile has partnered with government agencies, the Global Fund, and CCBA to improve last‑mile delivery, increase demand for public health products, and strengthen supply chains—helping ensure reliable access to essential health services.
Together, these efforts reflect our enduring commitment to Africa: partnering locally, investing sustainably, and contributing to inclusive growth that supports communities today while helping build a better shared future for the continent.