Coca-Cola HBC donates €1m to support local communities -

Zoran Bogdanovic, chief executive officer at Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

Coca-Cola HBC, the parent company of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd, has announced a €1million donation to support community empowerment and social impact programmes in Nigeria.

The announcement was made by Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO Coca-Cola HBC, at a Stakeholder reception during his visit to Lagos, Nigeria.

Speaking about the company’s legacy of over 70 years in Nigeria, Zoran Bogdanovic, said, “Our roots are in Nigeria and its spirit still runs right through our business today – that’s why we have been a proud contributor to the growth of the Nigerian Economy throughout our history.

“In the last 10 years we have invested well over a billion Euros in our Nigeria operations, which has supported the expansion of production capacity, building of modern warehouses, investment in eco-friendly logistics and above all, the creation of jobs for young Nigerians across the value chain. Today, we, along with The Coca-Cola Company, support over 58,000 jobs annually in the value chain in the country.”

Remarking on the donation, Bogdanovic said: “This donation underlines our commitment to improving the lives of our communities. Through this support, among other ongoing sustainability initiatives, we hope to help drive growth for the Nigerian economy and enable better living conditions for local communities. The donation will be directed towards empowering youth and women and the provision of water and sanitary facilities.”

The €1 million fund will be deployed to support four key initiatives including the Federal Government of Nigeria’s journey towards becoming Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2025; upskilling underserved youths and women in high demand skills; and community recycling initiatives.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.