The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide €64 million in financing to the Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company (ECCBC). The funds will support the climate strategy of The Coca-Cola Company North and West African bottling partner, which aims to reduce water and energy consumption and accelerate waste recycling.
The €64 million financing pledged to Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company (ECCBC) by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) consists of €52 million in equity and loan financing. The other part of the financing, €12 million, will be provided by the Canada-IFC Blended Climate Finance Programme (BCFP) with €8.5 million and the Alafaq Aljadida Programme for Private Sector Development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with €3.5 million.
With this new funding, the Coca-Cola Group’s bottler in North and West Africa will further implement its climate programme. ECCBC aims to reduce its water, energy and waste footprint through technological improvements, solar solutions and pilot recycling programmes in 13 countries in North and West Africa.
Reducing its environmental impact
To achieve this, ECCBC plans to upgrade or replace production lines to make them more efficient, implement a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) collection and recycling programme in Algeria, replace chillers in its distribution network to save energy, install solar power generation systems in bottling plants and introduce solar chillers for retail sales in Ghana and Morocco.
This is expected to improve water use efficiency by 20% by 2030 in ECCBC’s seven bottling plants and 42 production lines in Africa. In terms of water use, ECCBC’s climate programme will also enable 100% local replenishment of water used in beverage manufacturing by the same date. The company reaches over 160 million consumers and employs 5,000 people directly and 35,000 indirectly. ECCBC’s approach will improve the energy efficiency of its facilities by 25% by 2030 and reduce its carbon footprint by 25% over the next seven years.
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The IFC funds will also support ECCBC’s waste management. The company’s goal is to collect one bottle or can for every one it sells and to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030.
Inès Magoum
