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Coca-Cola Nigeria
Limited has announced the appointment of Kelvin Balogun as the
company’s new chief executive officer, effective February 1, 2011. Mr.
Balogun succeeds Islay Rhind, who will be retiring from The Coca-Cola
Company.

Mr. Balogun, who
becomes the first Nigerian CEO of Coca-Cola Nigeria, joined the company
in October 1999 as strategic planning & business development
manager. In February 2002, he moved to East Africa, where he held
positions of increasing responsibility in Kenya, Tanzania, and the Horn
of Africa before assuming the role of strategy director for the
Coca-Cola East & Central Africa Business Unit in May 2008, with
responsibility for strategy development across 27 countries.

Mr. Balogun’s last
role in East Africa was that of general manager for the East Africa
& Mozambique Franchise, leading Coca-Cola’s operations and market
development in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique.

Curt Ferguson,
president of Coca-Cola North & West Africa Business Unit, had this
to say – “Kelvin is well grounded in the business and has a strong
track record of performance. He successfully rebuilt some of the key
business drivers for profitable growth in several East and Central
African markets. We are confident that he will accelerate the growth
momentum that our business has built in Nigeria and will lay a solid
framework for sustainable market leadership.”

He began his career
in 1989 as a business analyst at Accenture in Lagos, and rose to the
position of senior manager & head of strategy competency. He has an
MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University in Atlanta
and a Bachelors degree in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering
from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife. He is also an alumnus of
the Lagos Business School and the Logistics Strategy School at the
Cranfield University in the UK.

“I am excited by the opportunity to return home and help shape and drive the Coca-Cola business here,” said Mr. Balogun.

“Nigeria is a strategic growth market; my colleagues and I will
focus on strengthening the fundamentals of the business, deepening the
bonds between our brands and our consumers, and expanding our market
leadership,” he further said.