Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company says it will invest $1 billion in Nigeria over the next five years.

The investment commitment was made during a meeting with Coca-Cola’s global leadership team, including John Murphy, president and chief financial officer, and Segun Apata, chairman of Nigerian Bottling Company.

Reacting to the development in a statement on Thursday, President Bola Tinubu commended Coca-Cola for its long-standing partnership with Nigeria and for employing over 3,000 people across nine production facilities.

Tinubu said the investment highlights his administration’s commitment to creating a robust financial system and a business-friendly economy.

“We are business-friendly, and as I said at my inauguration, we must create an environment of easy-in and easy-out for businesses,” the statement reads.

“We are building a financial system where you can invest, re-invest, and repatriate all your dividends. I have a firm belief in that.”

Tinubu said private sector partnerships are crucial to his government’s reforms aimed at improving the business environment.

He pledged to continue to support Coca-Cola for expanding its investments in Nigeria and addressing environmental issues, including climate change.

Murphy, speaking on Coca-Cola’s impact in Nigeria, said the company generates ₦320 billion annually through nearly 300,000 customers and contributes almost ₦90 billion in revenue to the Nigerian government.

“We are very proud of the growth of the business over a long period and its impact on the daily lives of many Nigerians,” he said.

Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, attributed the company’s $1 billion investment pledge to its confidence in the Nigerian government’s policies.

“Mr President, in your inaugural address, we were very pleased to hear of your invitation for foreign investors to invest and your assurance that foreign businesses can repatriate dividends and profits,” the CEO said.

“That assurance gives us the confidence to continue our investments. Since 2013, we have invested $1.5 billion in Nigeria in capacity expansion, transformation of our supply chain infrastructure capabilities, training and development.

“I am very pleased to announce that, with a predictable and enabling environment in place, we plan to invest an additional $1 billion over the next five years.”

Bogdanovic said Nigeria’s potential is tremendous, pledging the company’s commitment to work with the government to realise it.

In November 2021, the beverage manufacturer had pledged to inject $1 billion into Nigeria’s economy.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is planning to deploy the 6G spectrum in Nigeria to expand access to Wi-Fi technology.

Aminu Maida, executive vice-chairman of NCC, spoke on Thursday about efficiently managing and utilizing spectrum resources at a consultative engagement forum focused on emerging technologies.

Tagged, ‘The Use of 6GHz (5925-7125) MHz for WiFi and IMT Applications in Nigeria’, the forum was held in Lagos to get stakeholders’ input and recommendations on how the new frequency can be used.

The NCC also said the forum, held annually, serves as a platform to get the support of stakeholders for its policies.

In his opening remarks, Maida, represented by Abraham Oshadami, executive commissioner of technical services at the commission, said existing spectrums (5G and 2G) are becoming overcrowded, hence the need to introduce other frequency bands.

“The 6GHz band, spanning from 5925 MHz to 7125 MHz, offers a substantial increase in available spectrum, which is crucial for supporting the growing demand for high-speed internet and advanced applications.

Wi-Fi plays a crucial role in the distribution of fixed broadband connectivity in homes, offices, and various other environments,” Maida said.

“The vast majority of home internet traffic is connected to the end-user through Wi-Fi.

In enterprise settings, Wi-Fi is essential for handling large amounts of data and simultaneously connecting large numbers of devices with improved reliability, higher data throughput, and lower latencies.

“However, the 5GHz and 2.4GHz that are being used for Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5) at the moment are becoming overwhelmed due to an increase in demand for capacity.

It is, therefore, imperative to identify other frequency bands to complement the 5GHz and 2.4GHz.”

Speaking on the benefits, Maida said the proposed frequency would increase capacity, allowing for the use of applications such as virtual reality, augmented reality, which existing spectrums “will not carry”.

“With Wi-Fi 6 introduction, you have more capacity opened up for people to be able to connect and have seamless access to Wi-Fi and remember, this is unlicensed, so it is free.

In the long run, it’ll bring down the cost of connecting to Wi-Fi.”

Caroline Alenoghena, a professor of telecommunications engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, said the introduction of a new spectrum is necessary to address the congestion in the present Wi-Fi frequencies.

The professor said opening up the 6G band would create “opportunities for start-ups to grow” in terms of providing digital services.

On his part, Tony Emoekpere, president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said the 6G spectrum — if properly allocated — would allow more diverse technologies to be deployed.

Emoekpere said it would also democratise access to the urban, semi-rural, and rural areas.

“Foreseeable challenges are things like infrastructure requirements, the whole of investment that’s required, competing technologies, because some of these technologies are still being developed,” the ATCON president said.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made it clear that the cybersecurity levy, which was previously suspended, has not been reinstated.

This clarification came in a statement released by the CBN on Friday.

More to come…