Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd., a leading consumer packaged goods company and a member of the Coca-Cola HBC Group, has commissioned three new production lines: two at its Asejire plant in Oyo State and one at its Challawa plant in Kano State. The new lines were formally commissioned at a ceremony attended by Senator John Owan Enoh, Honourable Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. They signal the Coca-Cola System’s commitment to its $1 billion five-year investment programme in Nigeria.
At the Asejire plant in Oyo State, NBC has commissioned two new production lines, world-class and globally benchmarked, equipped with the most advanced bottling technology available today. At the Challawa plant in Kano State, a new line of equivalent global standard has been commissioned, further strengthening a facility that has anchored NBC’s operations in Kano since 1982. Together, the three new lines deepen NBC’s presence in communities the company has served for decades, reinforcing a manufacturing footprint that extends across the country.
Speaking at the ceremony, Goran Sladic, Managing Director of NBC, framed the investments as a statement of long-term conviction.
“NBC has been part of Nigeria’s growth story for 75 years. Since 1951, we have invested in people, infrastructure, manufacturing capability, and communities across the country. We are, proudly, a Nigerian company. The three new production lines we are commissioning today at Asejire and Challawa are proof of what is achievable when that commitment is matched by an enabling policy environment, and a signal that we intend to be part of this country’s story for the next 75 years and beyond.”
The three new lines at Asejire and Challawa mark the first phase of a nationwide programme that will see further production capacity additions across NBC’s plants in 2026. They build on more than US$1.5 billion invested across NBC’s Nigerian operations over the past decade and form part of the Coca-Cola System’s long-term investment plans for Nigeria. Announced in 2024, the System plans to invest up to US$1 billion over the next five years, subject to a predictable and enabling business environment.
Economic Contribution
The scale of the Coca-Cola System’s investment in Nigeria extends well beyond plant and machinery. According to a 2024 socio-economic impact study by global consulting firm Steward Redqueen, the System generated $1 billion in value-added economic activity and supported over 160,000 livelihoods across its value chain: 53 jobs across Nigeria for every single direct job within the System itself. Of the goods and services, the System purchased in 2024, $601 million was sourced from Nigerian suppliers, reflecting a depth of local integration that goes well beyond the factory floor.
In his remarks at the ceremony, Senator John Owan Enoh, Honourable Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment framed NBC’s 75-year presence as something greater than a corporate milestone.
“Seventy-five years is not merely an anniversary; it is an argument; an argument that Nigeria is worth believing in, made not in words but in plant and payroll, and sustained across three generations. When an established company deepens its capacity, lengthens its local supply chains, and spreads opportunity across Nigeria, it is not merely expanding a business. It is helping to write the industrial story this country has resolved to tell.”
At the ceremony, NBC also unveiled its 75th Anniversary Commemorative Product Label: a limited-edition label presented by the Managing Director to the Minister, marking 75 years of refreshing Nigeria, a symbol of an anniversary that belongs not only to NBC, but to the millions of Nigerians who have been part of its story.
