The Coca-Cola System says it has focused its 75-year operations in the country on creating pathways to work.
In a document released to mark its anniversary, the company said more than 200,000 young Nigerians have been trained through its job and skills programmes.
According to the company, over 70,000 youths have benefited from its flagship Youth Empowered programme run by the Nigerian Bottling Company. The programme provides training in life skills, entrepreneurship, and internship opportunities designed to make participants more employable.
Another 130,000 youths, it said, have received digital skills training through the Digital Skilling and Employment Project and AWAMBI. The company said the initiatives were targeted at closing Nigeria’s skills gap and linking young people to sustainable careers.
“Beyond direct training, our business model supports livelihoods,” the company stated.
It noted that its operations support thousands of direct jobs and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs across manufacturing, logistics, packaging, retail, transportation and recycling.
The company added that its distribution network, run largely by indigenous entrepreneurs and retailers, has also created income opportunities and extended products across the country.
The Coca-Cola System also said it has created jobs in the green economy. More than 13,000 Nigerians, it said, now earn incomes through plastic waste collection and aggregation under programmes including Empowering Collectors Initiative, CyclePlast, Tidy Nigeria and Green Campus.
“These interventions are designed to strengthen the recycling value chain while creating economic opportunities for people involved in waste collection,” the company said.
The Coca-Cola System in Nigeria comprises Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Bottling Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation.
Beyond jobs, the company said its community work covers water, sanitation, and health. Under its Strengthening Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme, it rehabilitated boreholes and handwashing stations in six communities in Maiduguri, including an IDP camp, two health facilities and a school.
It said the project now provides safer water for over 16,000 people and has trained women as hygiene promoters and youths as maintenance artisans.
In Imo State, 15,000 cubic metres of riverbank vegetation along the Otamiri River was restored to protect water for 25 communities. Community committees have also been trained to manage the facilities.
The company said the job and community investments are part of efforts to remain relevant to Nigerians as it marks 75 years, alongside consumer campaigns such as Share a Coke, Coke Studio, Coke with Meals and Schweppes’ “Born Social.”
