President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to creating a robust financial system and a business-friendly economy that would attract more foreign direct investments.

The president made the commitment on Thursday in Abuja, as the Coca-Cola Company announced plans to accelerate its investments in Nigeria to $1 billion over the next five years.

The announcement was made at a meeting between the president and a company team led by Zoran Bogdanovic, the chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, and the president of the Coca-Cola Company, John Murphy.

Mr Tinubu commended Coca-Cola for its long-standing partnership with Nigeria and for promoting investment opportunities that had employed over 3,000 people across nine production facilities.

“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,” he said.

Mr Tinubu told the delegation that private sector partnerships, which sustained investments, were central to his government’s far-reaching reforms to improve the business environment.

He pledged that the government would continue partnering with Coca-Cola to expand investments in Nigeria and address environmental issues, including climate change.

“The size of this country is enormous in Africa, and the consumption capacity of Nigeria is expanding daily,” Mr Tinubu added.

He commended the company for scaling up its skill development and community initiatives as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Presenting an overview of Coca-Cola’s business in Nigeria, Mr Murphy noted that the company generated N320 billion annually through nearly 300,000 customers.

He said the company also contributed almost N90 billion in revenue to the Nigerian government.

“We are very proud of the growth of the business over a long period and its impact on the daily lives of many Nigerians.

“Beyond the financial impacts, we are also very committed to supporting the communities, and over the last number of years, we’ve had a special focus on several areas in the world of sustainability, water packaging and others,” he said.

Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, explained that its confidence in Nigerian government policies had encouraged it to make the $1 billion investment pledge.

“Mr President, in your inaugural address, we were very pleased to hear of your invitation for foreign investors to invest and your assurance that foreign businesses can repatriate dividends and profits.

“That assurance gives us the confidence to continue our investments. Since 2013, we have invested $1.5 billion in Nigeria in capacity expansion, transformation of our supply chain infrastructure capabilities, training and development.

“I am very pleased to announce that, with a predictable and enabling environment in place, we plan to invest an additional $1 billion over the next five years.

“We believe Nigeria’s potential is tremendous, and we are committed to working with the government to realise this potential,” he said.

(NAN)