9 de julio de 2008

Coca Cola y el desempeño económico de Africa

En su más reciente edición, la revista The Economist presenta un artículo interesante donde argumenta que las ventas de Coca Cola son un buen predictor del desempeño económico de la región.

AFRICANS buy 36 billion bottles of Coke a year. Because the price is set so low—around 20-30 American cents, less than the price of the average newspaper—and because sales are so minutely analysed by Coca-Cola, the Coke bottle may be one of the continent’s best trackers of stability and prosperity.


A nivel macro, cuando a Coca Cola le va mal (ya sea por ventas bajas o por un ambiente de negocios hostil), también le tiende a ir mal a la economía del país en cuestión.

Coca-Cola’s bottling plant in Eritrea hardly works because the country’s totalitarian government makes it impossible to import the needed syrup. The factory in Somalia sputtered on heroically during years of fighting but finally gave out when its sugar was pinched by pirates and its workers were held up by gunmen. Mr Cummings admits that Coca-Cola is “on life support” in Zimbabwe.


Por otro lado, hay países donde las expectativas de la empresa son positivas lo que, según esta teoría, sugiere que a esos países les irá bien.

The company expects sales in Africa to grow by an annual 10-13% over the next few years, handily outstripping economic growth. The biggest markets will be in petro-economies such as Nigeria and Angola, and countries like Ghana and Kenya where a middle class is emerging. Kenya’s citizens may like to know that, despite their country’s many troubles earlier this year, Coca-Cola has invested $50m in a new bottling plant and $10m in new offices.


Aquí el artículo.

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