Coca Cola Gets New Managing Director

Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited has announced the appointment of Adeola Adetunji as the company’s new Managing Director effective January 1, 2013. He replaces Kelvin Balogun who was elevated recently to the position of President of Coca-Cola Central, East and West Africa (CEWA) Business Unit.

A statement yesterday by the Public Affairs and Communications Manager of Coca Cola, Clem Ugorji, said Adetunji is currently the General Manager for Manufacturing and Trading Services, and also serves as the Managing Director for Waveside (Pty.) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company in South Africa.

According to the statement, Adetunji has served successfully in varied roles of increasing responsibility, spanning finance, marketing and operations.  He joined the company in Atlanta in 1993 and was appointed as the South Africa Division Accounting Manager in 1996.

He led the Coca-Cola business in East Africa to record growth between 2003 and 2005 and was central in stabilising the business in Southern Africa between 2005 and 2007, before moving to bottling operations in July 2008 as the East and North Africa Operations Director for Coca-Cola Sabco, the anchor bottler for Coca-Cola Company in Africa.

Prior to joining the Coca-Cola Company, Adetunji worked in audit and consulting roles with Spicer and Oppenheimer (now Nexia International) for over three years.  He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and holds a B.Sc. degree in Economics from the University of Ife, and a MBA in Finance and Strategic Planning from the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

“We are very pleased to have another strong professional, Adeola Adetunji, to lead the Coca-Cola business in Nigeria, one of our strategic growth markets”, said Nathan Kalumbu, outgoing President of Coca-Cola Central, East and West Africa, who will be moving up as the Group President for Coca-Cola Eurasia and Africa Group. “We are confident that he would focus on delivering our system growth plan, leveraging the solid groundwork laid over the past two years.”

In a comment, the statement quoted Adetunji as saying: “I am excited at the opportunity to return to Nigeria and steward the Coca-Cola business; and I look forward to working with the team to further strengthen the fundamentals of our business and grow our market leadership”.

South African firm acquires $335m equity in MTN Nigeria
Meanwhile, the Shanduka Group, a leading South African Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) investment holding company, via its wholly owned subsidiary Shanduka Telecommunication Mauritius, has paid $335 million to acquire a minority stake in MTN’s Nigerian business from three private investors, making it its biggest investment outside its home market.

Shanduka is owned by Cyril Ramaphosa, the chairman of MTN Group and the current running mate of President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, in the forthcoming African National Congress (ANC) primary.

Shanduka Group, which is founded and controlled by Ramaphosa, is 25-percent owned by China’s sovereign wealth fund following the China Investment Corporation’s $226-million payment for a quarter of Shanduka last year.

Speaking on the acquisition, Shanduka Group’s CEO, Phuti Mahanyele, said, “This is Shanduka’s most significant investment in another African country. It is a business that is well established within a market that has great potential for further growth.”

Although Shanduka did not say exactly how much it owns of the Nigerian unit, MTN holds a 78.8 percent stake in the Nigeria unit.

MTN Nigeria is the largest subsidiary of MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile operator. As the largest mobile operator in Nigeria, it controls about 48 percent of the Nigerian telecom market with over 45 million subscribers by the end of September 2012, contributing nearly 30 percent of MTN’s revenue.

According to London-based group, Pyramid Research, Nigeria’s telecom sector should grow by 6 per cent over the next five years.

“Nigeria is the most populous country on the continent and is an important market from a consumer perspective,” saids Shanduka Chief Executive, Phuti Mahanyele.

She said the group was also in talks with two partners to bid for an electricity distribution company in Nigeria, revealing that Standard Chartered Bank alerted Shanduka Group to the opportunity and helped finance the purchase through debt and equity.

Shanduka Group has investments in varied sectors, including mining, energy, real estate, telecommunication companies and financial services.