Group warns Nigerian govt against Coca-Cola’s $1 billion investment pledge

The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has criticised the Nigerian government for embracing Coca-Cola’s $1 billion investment pledge, citing the company’s alleged history of broken promises and harm to public health.

CAPPA in a statement signed by its Media and Communication Officer, Robert Egbe, accused Coca-Cola of attempting to “whitewash” its image despite multiple dishonest trade practices and regulatory infractions.

This is in reaction to Coca-Cola’s recent visit to President Bola Tinubu, during which the corporation announced a $1 billion investment pledge to Nigeria over five years.

“The Coca-Cola System has been part of Nigerian communities for over 70 years and believes in the strength and continued potential of the market. We are excited to announce this investment, which demonstrates our dedication to fostering economic growth and creating job opportunities in the country,” Zoran Bogdanovic, the chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, told Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu.

“Our investment goes beyond business growth; it’s about contributing to the well-being of the communities we call home. We foresee significant social and economic advancements, which is why we continue to invest in our business operations and community programs in Nigeria,” he added.

However, according to CAPPA, Coca-Cola’s latest pledge is a recycled commitment made three years ago during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which the company failed to deliver.

The presidency had, however, clarified in a statement last week that the corporation halted the previous investment due to the “challenging business environment” prevailing in the country then.

But CAPPA criticised the government for defending Coca-Cola despite its alleged “persistent onslaught against public health and regulatory infractions than anything else.”

Concerning trend

The group accused the beverage manufacturer of regulatory infractions, negative impact on public health, and recent investigations by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

In 2017, a Lagos High Court issued a judgement against the company, revealing that its products were unfit for consumption as they contain high levels of sunset yellow and benzoic acid.

High levels of sunset yellow and benzoic acid, according to European and American food and drug agencies, can form the carcinogen benzene when combined with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C).

“On this ground, the court mandated the company to place warning labels on its beverages, advising consumers against combining their intake with Vitamin C. But to this day, the corporation has refused to comply with this directive.

“This contempt and disregard for public health and judicial authority should ordinarily disqualify the company from receiving any form of state endorsement, let alone at the highest level of government,” the CAPPA statement read.

Recently, the FCCPC found Coca-Cola guilty of deceptive trade practices. The Commission’s investigation which began in 2019, revealed that the company had consistently engaged in deceptive product packaging and inconsistent pricing strategies that misled consumers.

“Sadly, by endorsing Coca-Cola’s shady investment only months after the FCCPC indicted it, the Nigerian government is not only setting itself up as an image launderer for a dirty corporation but also unbelievably, undermining and embarrassing its own regulatory authority,’’ the CAPPA statement said.

Public health concerns

The statement also quoted CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, as emphasising that Coca-Cola’s products contribute to Nigeria’s public health crisis, particularly non-communicable diseases like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

The statement further reads in part: “The question the Nigerian government must ask itself in light of all this is what truly it stands to gain by endorsing a multinational corporation with a dark history of non-compliance, and whose products are even actively contributing to a public health crisis in the country?

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“Sugar-sweetened beverages, like many of Coca-Cola’s products under such category, are well known and documented contributors to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease and other associated health conditions that are already straining Nigeria’s healthcare system and economy.

“As such, while the company’s promises of an economic investment may sound appealing, the potential gains pale in comparison to the long-term public health costs and injury that the consumption of its products inflicts on the Nigerian population as with elsewhere across the world’’.

The organisation further warned that the government’s cozy relationship with Coca-Cola could jeopardise the implementation of Nigeria’s sugar-sweetened beverages tax, aimed at reducing consumption and tackling rising NCDs.

“We, therefore, call on the Nigerian government to prioritise the interests of Nigerians by shunning questionable associations with corporate lawbreakers and adversaries of public health. We urge the state to defend public health without scruples and consider genuine ethical investments that rank the well-being of Nigerians over empty promises and profit-driven deception,” it added.