Investment in Ghana a success story -Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola Bottling Company Ghana Limited said on Friday that its investment in Ghana has been a success story. Mr Segun Ogunsanya, General Manager, however, declined to disclose the company's profits, saying it is a private company. "We are a success story in Ghana and our success is bringing other investors," he told Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive, who visited the company's bottling plant on Spintex Road in Accra.

Mr Ogunsanya said the company has also supported other investors "because we believe Ghana has a lot of investment opportunities". The company, which sold 12 million crates of its products on the Ghanaian market last year, has two factories in Ghana, which are located in Tema and Kumasi.

The Tema factory, which has a capacity for 3,000 cases per hour, is currently producing 35,000 crates a day, representing about 65 to 70 per cent of its installed capacity. The Kumasi factory has a capacity for 1,000 cases her hour.

The company directly employs 700 people while 8,000 retailers have been provided with free umbrellas and tables for their work. It has also supplied over 3,500 coolers over the last five years on the market as part of ensuring that its drinks are served cold.

Mr Ogunsanya said the company opened its new factory on Spintex Road in 1996 but by 1998 there was the need for a second bottling line to meet the increasing demands for its products. Last year, the company introduced its mineral water - Bon Aqua. It also launched its first ever litre bottle of Coca-Cola in West Africa in Ghana this year.

The company has also invested directly in the distribution of its products by adding 42 new distribution trucks over the past seven years because it wants to facilitate its door-to-door service to its customers.

Mr Narh, who led a 15-member delegation of the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) to the factory, noted that it was located within the municipality and there was the likelihood that Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) would stray to the factory to collect property rate.

Company officials however confirmed that the company was already paying some taxes to the AMA, and urged that this conflict be resolved at the political level.