Dive Brief:
- Coca-Cola says it will invest $5 billion with its bottling partners in Africa during the next six years. The promise is in addition to the soft drink giant's earlier pledge to spend $12 billion on the continent by 2020.
- The new investment will focus on improving Coke's cooling and distribution equipment and its supply chain and logistics network.
- Part of the investment will also go to programs aimed at empowering women, securing clean water supplies, and the sustainable production of tea and fruits.
Dive Insight:
Coke sees a growth potential in Africa that is getting increasingly hard to come by elsewhere. As the developed world turns away from soda, Coke is looking to earn more from less-developed regions.
That, as the total $17 billion in investments shows, can be a very good thing for the people of Africa. And combined with the news that a number of nations are looking to invest $100 billion to improve Africa's famously awful infrastructure, it's not unreasonable to think -- or at least to hope -- that Africa may be turning a corner.