(Ecofin Agency) - “From 2010 to 2020, Coca Cola would have invested $17 billion in Africa. This level of investment is proof of our trust and commitment to Africa,” said the Head of the Coca Cola Group for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Brian Smith (picture).

The executive declared this last September 28th, in Abidjan, during the signing of a grant agreement between the Coca Cola group and Côte d’Ivoire in the framework of the "safe birth initiative". The group offered the West African nation the sum of $10.8 million (about FCFA6 billion).

While recalling the major investments made by his group in South Africa and Nigeria and which enabled it increase its market shares, Brian Smith indicated that other investments would help finance “major projects which the group has planned to develop in the coming years, across the continent".

These should, according to Coca Cola’s President for Europe, Middle East and Africa, help boost the group’s presence in Africa, via its bottling and distribution networks.

Moreover, the projects fall under the group’s global strategy to enrich its brand portfolio, which mainly consists of soft non-alcoholic drinks, with products such as concentrated and concentrated and flavored milk, ice tea and bottled water to meet populations’ growing demand across the continent.

“I am convinced that Africa will be the one to drive the Coca Cola Group growth’s the most in the Middle East & Africa region,” Smith affirmed.