Beverage company Coca-Cola and its bottling partners (the Coca-Cola System) have committed $13-million to support the African continent through the various phases of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, the Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) has granted just under $4-million to international and local nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) – such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Amref Health – to procure and distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical needs for frontline workers and to help fund intensive care unit- (ICU-) enabled ambulances, especially in regions such as Mauritius and Madagascar.

The Coca-Cola system has also donated to National Solidarity Funds in South Africa and Morocco and additional funds were allocated to boost awareness and mobilisation to help stem infections in vulnerable communities across several countries.

In addition to suspending all commercial advertising of its brands and deploying its marketing and trade assets, including social media channels, product labels and point-of-sale materials, to amplify Covid-19 messaging, the Coca-Cola System is providing funding and other forms of support to help bolster small, medium-sized and microenterprises in the retail, hospitality and recycling sectors, which have been among the hardest hit businesses across countries.

Coca-Cola is also working with some NGOs and social enterprises (including Givefood.ng in Nigeria and Gift of the Givers in South Africa) and National Disaster Management agencies to provide food parcels for vulnerable families whose livelihood has been disrupted by the lockdown and other restrictions.

Coca-Cola’s bottling partners on the continent, meanwhile, are making significant contributions to the fight against the pandemic through a variety of interventions, including lending their distribution capability to help deliver medical supplies, food parcels, three-dimensional- (3D-) printed face masks and other PPE, as well as donating money, beverage products and food items.

In response to the critical need for hand sanitiser, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa in Uganda and Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, and the Nigerian Bottling Company, in Nigeria, have deployed their technical expertise and facilities to produce over 30 000 l of alcoholic sanitiser in line with World Health Organization (WHO) standards which were distributed to governments and vulnerable communities free of charge.

Further, in some countries (such as eSwatini, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe), Coca-Cola in Africa provided its marketing expertise either directly or through its partnership with Project Last Mile, to support Ministries of Health simplify and amplify health and safety messages.

Additionally, in Egypt, Coca-Cola decorated its bottles with messages of gratitude and appreciation to every doctor in the country’s “white army”.

The Coca-Cola system has also leveraged its years of experience in water access, sanitation and hygiene through the Replenish Africa Initiative to develop unique emergency handwashing stations (some foot operated, some using jerrycans), which are now set up in high traffic areas, border points and in vulnerable communities.