The President of Coca Cola Africa Foundation has said trade, not aid, is the way Africa will ultimately develop.
Addressing African journalists in Johannesburg where they had gathered for the CNN Multichoice African Journalist Awards, William Asiko said as Coca Cola, their responsibilities went far beyond taking care of the environment.
A leading business personality on the African continent, Asiko said his company was partnering with governments across Africa to ensure the sustainability of the lives of their customers.
“Without the sustainability of our customers, our business cannot be sustainable. It is in our interest as Coca Cola in Africa to be involved in the fight against HIV/AIDs and malaria. We are happy as a company to say we have a presence in every country in Africa and have never left any market voluntarily,” he said.
Coca Cola first came to Africa some 83 years ago and has since been a part of the continent’s landscape.
The brand was established 125 years ago in the United States.
“We are one of the biggest taxpayers in many African countries where we do business,” Asiko said.
He shot down perceptions that doing business in Africa was necessarily more difficult than was the case in other parts of the world.
He said it was important to highlight the fact that democracy was taking root across many parts of the continent.
“The regulatory environment is improving as are legal reforms.”
Asiko said corruption in Africa is on the decline. He said it is important to point out that in some African countries, ministers are forced to resign as a result of corruption allegations.
“That was not the case ten years ago and the media has played a key role. The challenge that Africa has is that it is the only continent that people refer to as a single unit.”
He observed that Africa deserved credit for the fact that her banks remain robust despite the world economic crisis.
“As Coca Cola, we believe this is a story that could be better positioned. It is only in Africa where executives have paid with their jobs and in some instances gone to jail for the decisions they made. That shows an improvement in holding people responsible for their decisions.”
He, however, pointed out that infrastructure remained a challenge, acknowledging that more needed to be done on things like consumer trends and demographics.
“Legal and political environments have to be understood. It is important also to segment the market because it is not homogenous.”
Asiko said companies doing business in Africa wanted to understand if the kind of services they provided were needed by people of the continent.
It is also in the interest of companies to know what works and also what is good for them.
“Africa is not a country. It is a continent with many countries. It is not always a poverty story. There is a strong middle class, which is set to grow significantly by 2020.
Asiko said Coca Cola has never left any market voluntarily and, in most instances, after leaving the company has always been the first to come back.
“Our experience is that the price of coming back is higher,” he said
