February 7: The race to build Nigeria’s first beverage canmaking plant is likely to be won by local firm GZ Industries, which has lined up a high-profile group to complete the project by the spring of 2009.
A number of similar projects have been proposed to meet growing demand for two-piece drinks cans in Nigeria where some 500 million are imported, but none advanced beyond the planning stage.
But blue-chip customers such as Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling, Heineken (through its subsidiaries Nigerian Breweries and Consolidated Brewery) and Diageo (which brews Guinness stout and Harp lager) are using increasing volumes of cans. Around 12 percent of Coca-Cola’s drinks volume – some 2.5 bn cases – is sold in Nigeria.
