Investing in communities helps build stronger economies, says Coca-Cola chief

Rwanda will achieve its goal for a sustainable economy by investing more resources in communities, the Coca-Cola Central, East and West Africa cheif, Kelvin Balogun said during the recent inauguration of the Rwanda Coco-Cola Ekocentre in Ruhunda sector, Rwamagana District. He said there is need to embrace public-private partnerships for sustainable and inclusive growth. In an interview with Business Times’ Peterson Tumwebaze Balogun said one of the best ways to build businesses is to help build, improve and empower the communities, among other interventions. Why did Coca-Cola choose Rwanda for this particular project? Rwanda is one of several fast-growing countries where we have introduced Ekocentres. The strong, supportive partnership we have established with the private sector, the civil society and the government has enabled us to accelerate and expand the initiative. However, we have 127 Ekocentres throughout Africa currently, and they serve as one of the powerful ways for us to connect with local communities. In the long-run, we are able to make the communities stronger while supporting our own business growth. Ekocentres are both community centres and general stores, and they offer a lot of benefits, especially in supporting the economic and social progress of African communities by directly addressing the challenges they encounter daily. For example, provision of clean water is very important to help prevent the deaths resulting from a lack of access to clean water in Africa. So, we feel that we have a unique opportunity to use our knowledge and resources to help address this challenge through the Ekocentres model, like one we launched recently in Ruhunda with our partner Pentair. How much has Coca-Cola invested in Rwanda and Africa in general? The Coca-Cola has invested $64 million in its soft drink business in Rwanda since 2011, but will invested $17 billion on the continent between 2010 to 2020. With our local bottling partners, we have created a sustainable business in Rwanda. We believe we are on the right path toward achieving future plans. Through the Ekocentre initiative, we are leading the way, bringing stakeholders together to strengthen efforts geared at ensuring sustainable economic and social growth in Rwanda. That we plan to invest up to $17 billion on the continent by 2020 is a vote of confidence for Africa. Besdes, the East African region is buoyant, delivering outstanding GDP growth figures in almost all the countries. This trend is also reflected in our own business. For example, Bralirwa invested $30 million in a modern waste water treatment plant in the 2013-2014 period. Last year, the firm invested a further $9 million in a state-of-the-art production line. What is your take on the current performance of the global economy? How do you think it will affect economies like Rwanda? Rwanda is one of the few countries to have managed sustain impressive economic growth levels, which have helped reduce poverty, and narrowed income inequality. We are, therefore, confident that continued investment in infrastructure, industry expansion and job-creation will enhance the quality of this growth moving forward. In East Africa, 65 per cent of economic growth will come from the consumer sector, which offers a very positive outlook for businesses such as ours. Rwanda is no exception. We are also confident with the ongoing transformative economic progress being made by the country. Rwanda is firmly on the right track to sustain the impressive growth rates achieved over the last decade. (Rwanda’s economy expanded by 7.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year, driven by services, industry and agriculture sector - editor). How can Rwanda improve its competitiveness? As a business operating in Rwanda, innovation is essential for competitiveness. Fortunately, Rwanda is one of the most dynamic economies in Africa, with a GDP of nearly 6.9 per cent underpinned by growth in construction and service sectors. It is important to note that the government has created an enabling environment for partnerships between public and private sectors. So, what remains is creating an efficient model for this partnership to open opportunities that will make the country more competitive.

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Investing in communities helps build stronger economies, says Coca-Cola chief