Presidential Aide, Ogra, Shuts Down Attempt At Mischief Over Coca-Cola’s Plan To Invest $1Billion In Nigeria

Otega Ogra, the Senior Special Adviser, has shut down attempts at mischief over the $1 billion investment pledged by the Coca-Cola company.

The $1 billion investment—set to be deployed over a five-year period—was announced by the global leadership of the company, which generates N320 billion annually through nearly 300,000 customers in Nigeria and contributes almost N90 billion to the government.

This announcement was made on Thursday, September 19, 2024, after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

However, barely hours after the announcement by the Coca-Cola team, led by its President and Chief Financial Officer John Murphy and the Chairman of the Nigerian Bottling Company, Ambassador Segun Apata, there was an attempt at mischief.

An heckler of the current administration, with some following, claimed that the $1 billion investment, which earned President Tinubu’s commendation for its long-standing partnership with Nigeria and its promotion of investment opportunities that have employed over 3,000 people across nine production facilities, was merely a rehashed news item—a repeat of a 2021 pledge.

Presidential aide Ogra immediately intervened, dispelling the claim and providing context. He clarified that the 2021 pledge “was retracted, with many attributing it to the imposition of excise taxes on the company shortly thereafter, as well as the impact of the post-COVID downturn locally and globally.”

He emphasized that “listening to the company’s global President today (September 19, 2024), he essentially stated that they were renewing this investment in Nigeria due to the Tinubu-Shettima administration’s Economic Growth & Recovery Plan (EGRP) and the potential of the government’s fiscal reforms.”

Ogra, who also highlighted developments in the oil and gas sector, said, “Total, which was claimed to be pulling out, is now partnering with NNPCL on a new $550 million non-associated gas investment—the Ubeta Field Development Gas Project, for which the Final Investment Decision was signed at the end of June.”

He wrote in full, “I vividly remember conducting extensive research on the food and beverages industry just before exiting the private sector last year. It came to my attention then that the pledge was retracted, with many attributing it to the imposition of excise taxes on the company shortly thereafter, as well as the impact of the post-COVID downturn locally and globally. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that Coca-Cola has invested more than $1.5 billion into Nigeria over the last decade.”

“Listening to the company’s global President today, he essentially said they were renewing this investment in Nigeria due to the Tinubu-Shettima administration’s Economic Growth & Recovery Plan (EGRP) and the potential of the government’s fiscal reforms.”

“My principal and our President, Bola Tinubu, reiterated this resolve today when he said, ‘We are business-friendly, and as I said at my inauguration, we must create an environment of easy-in and easy-out for businesses. We are building a financial system where you can invest, re-invest, and repatriate all your dividends. I have a firm belief in that.'”

Nigeria is more than open for business, and the world is already taking positive note of it!”

The response and counter-responses over the $1 billion Coca-Cola investment were made on the social media platform X.