Coca-Cola Namibia closes two production lines due to water crisis

Water shortage has forced Coca-Cola Namibia to close down two of its production lines in Windhoek with immediate effect.

The company said one of the production lines that has been closed handles local canned products. The other line closed handles returnable glass products, a company statement said.

The company will have to import the canned products from South Africa, the company said in a statement dated May 7.

Coca-Cola Namibia managing director Frik Oosthuizen said in the statement that the decision to close down the production lines was reached after considering the City of Windhoek's 30 percent water saving requirement for manufacturing companies.

Oosthuizen said although there are no price increases expected now, the closure of the production lines will affect supply.

A 2015 report compiled by Simonis Storm Securities said Namibia Breweries, which is Coca-Cola Namibia's holding company was one of the top water consumers in the country.

Namibia Breweries also confirmed this in 2015 saying they used four liters of water on average to produce one final product.

Although Coca-Cola Namibia did not say anything about job losses, Simonis Storm Securities warned in their report that the water situation would have a spill-over effect on the economy and impact on the gross domestic product growth.

A prolonged drought has left dams and catchment areas empty, and water shortages are affecting many parts of the country for months. Endit