By Ayoola babalola
The Coca-Cola System in Nigeria says more than 70,000 young Nigerians have benefited from its empowerment programmes through training in life skills, entrepreneurship and access to internship opportunities.
The company, in statements made available to The PUNCH on Sunday, said its youth-focused interventions were part of its broader contribution to livelihoods in Nigeria, with its flagship Youth Empowered programme, led by Nigerian Bottling Company, providing young people with tools to improve their employability and entrepreneurial capacity.
It also said more than 130,000 youths had been trained in digital skills through initiatives including the Digital Skilling and Employment Project and AWAMBI, aimed at addressing the country’s skills gap and improving access to sustainable careers.
The Coca-Cola System comprises Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Bottling Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation.
The company disclosed the figures in a document released as part of activities marking its 75th anniversary in Nigeria.
Beyond its youth programmes, Coca-Cola said its operations support thousands of direct jobs and hundreds of thousands of indirect livelihoods across manufacturing, logistics, packaging, retail, transportation and recycling.
It said its distribution network, largely driven by indigenous entrepreneurs and retailers, had also created economic opportunities while extending its products across the country.
The company said its community interventions also cover access to water, sanitation, environmental protection and support for mothers and newborns.
Under its Strengthening Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme, Coca-Cola said it had rehabilitated boreholes and handwashing stations in six communities in Maiduguri, including an Internally Displaced Persons camp, two health facilities and a school.
According to the company, the intervention has improved access to safer water for more than 16,000 people, while women were trained as hygiene promoters and youths as maintenance artisans.
In Imo State, it said it had restored 15,000 cubic metres of riverbank vegetation along the Otamiri River, helping protect water supplies for 25 communities.
The company added that community committees had been trained to manage the facilities and sustain the environmental intervention.
Coca-Cola also said more than 13,000 Nigerians had been empowered to earn incomes through plastic waste collection and aggregation under initiatives including the Empowering Collectors Initiative, Plastics Recycling Programme, CyclePlast, Tidy Nigeria and Green Campus.
It said the interventions were designed to strengthen the recycling value chain while creating economic opportunities for people involved in waste collection.
The company said the initiatives formed part of its efforts to remain relevant to Nigerian consumers and communities as it marks 75 years of operations in the country, alongside campaigns such as Share a Coke, Coke Studio, Coke with Meals and Schweppes’ “Born Social.”
