A new carbonated soft drink plant quietly rose in Aba. On March 25, it roared to life, and the Nigerian beverage industry is paying attention.
Ultimum Limited, the maker of the Razzl brand of carbonated soft drinks, formally commissioned its brand-new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Aba, Abia State, in a ceremony attended by Governor Alex Otti and senior federal and state government officials. The move cements Aba’s re-emergence as a serious industrial hub and drops a competitive gauntlet in one of Africa’s most fiercely contested soft drink markets.
Situated within the Osisioma industrial cluster, the plant serves as Razzl’s main production base, churning out four variants: Cola, Orange, Lemon, and the standout Pamplemousse, a grapefruit-flavoured CSD containing 8% real fruit juice that has quickly become the brand’s most distinctive offering. Razzl currently ships in seven SKUs: Cola, Orange, and Lemon each in 40cl and 60cl PET, with Pamplemousse available in 40cl. The Aba plant represents the first of a wider regional rollout, with Ultimum confirming similar activations planned for other commercial hubs including Port Harcourt, Asaba, and Enugu over coming weeks.
The timing is deliberate. Nigeria’s carbonated drinks landscape is dominated by the Nigerian Bottling Company and Seven-Up Bottling Company, whose flagship brands, Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Pepsi, account for a combined 70% of national demand. Yet that dominance has not deterred challengers. Nigeria is one of the world’s largest soft drink markets, with the average consumer drinking roughly six bottles a week. Market outlook remains positive, supported by population growth and youthful demographics, with opportunities for investment in non-carbonated products, localised manufacturing, and partnerships with small-batch producers. A dedicated production base in the South-East, a region historically underserved by major beverage manufacturers, is not just logistical sense; it is strategic.
Ultimum Limited is a Nigerian-based subsidiary of Union Camerounaise de Brasseries (UCB), a leading total beverages manufacturer with over 50 years of presence and tremendous success in Cameroon, and part of the broader Kadji Group conglomerate founded by the late industrialist Joseph Kadji Defosso. UCB stands as one of Cameroon’s brewing pioneers and the largest locally owned brewery, rooted in Cameroonian heritage. Ultimum started operations in Nigeria in 2022, and by 2023 had launched Razzl in three initial flavours, Cola, Orange, and Lemon, before adding Pamplemousse shortly after.
“Nigerians are some of the most hardworking and resilient people in the world, and they deserve high-quality beverages that truly refresh, energise, and support their everyday aspirations.” ,
Austin Ufomba, Managing Director, Ultimum Limited
Ufomba, speaking ahead of the commissioning, was unambiguous about what this investment signals. The plant, he said, was not merely a factory, it was a statement of intent.
“We have not just built a new factory; we have also created the capacity to deliver real refreshment at scale, empower communities, and set new benchmarks for manufacturing excellence.”
The economic case for Aba extends beyond brand ambition. The plant is projected to generate hundreds of direct and indirect jobs across technical, administrative, and distribution roles. Local suppliers, logistics partners, wholesalers, and retailers, referred to internally as the company’s “Strategic Partners,” stand to benefit directly from the production activity. New players pursuing localised manufacturing to reduce logistics costs and improve market reach are seen as one of the key emerging strategies in Nigeria’s intensifying soft drink competition.
For Abia State, the commissioning aligns neatly with Governor Otti’s industrialisation agenda. It also reinforces Aba’s growing profile as a manufacturing centre, a city with a long legacy of enterprise that has been working in recent years to modernise its industrial identity, including improvements to power infrastructure in the Osisioma cluster. Notably, Aba itself has recently been at the centre of Nigeria’s beverage safety conversation: authorities sealed the Cemetery Market in Aba in December 2024, for the second time in two years, after uncovering over 240 shops operating as makeshift factories producing counterfeit versions of popular brands, making Ultimum’s accountable, traceable local production all the more significant for the region.
That Ultimum carries African parentage adds a further dimension. Nigeria’s CSD market is increasingly competitive, with Mamuda Beverages, Planet Bottling, and Rite Foods among the challengers pressing established leaders on pricing and volume. In a market where the safety and authenticity of packaged beverages is under growing scrutiny, between 2023 and the first half of 2024, Nigeria’s food and drug regulator compulsorily recalled over 30 products from the Nigerian market, more than double the roughly 15 recalls recorded in 2022, a manufacturer with deep African roots and accountable local production carries real resonance.
“We are exceptionally proud of the fact that Ultimum Limited is a Nigerian company with African roots, making us even better positioned to provide beverages that meet consumer needs, desires, and taste preferences.”
The Aba plant is now the nerve centre of Razzl’s national push. Whether the brand can convert factory firepower into retail shelf presence, in a market where Coca-Cola Nigeria is simultaneously doubling down on consumer engagement with its largest promotional campaign in recent memory, a six-month “Coke With Meals” promotion offering Nigerians the chance to win from a prize pool of ₦600 million, is the question that will define the next chapter.
