ADDIS ABABA, March 17 (Reuters) - Ethiopia this week ran out of Coca-Cola after its local bottler said it no longer had enough foreign currency to buy bottle tops.
The East African Bottling Share Company -- who have exclusive rights to bottle the drink in Ethiopia -- said they were forced to temporarily close their two plants in the Horn of Africa nation and send their 1,000 workers on compulsory leave.
"The company sent its ... workers on forced annual leave with full pay and the fate of the firm will be decided at a meeting of the board ... next week," it said in a statement.
Coca-Cola (KO.N) franchises its bottling worldwide to local companies and local legislation often makes it difficult for them to intervene in such situations.
Hotels and bars in capital Addis Ababa ran out of the drink late last week and began offering rival brand Pepsi to customers.
Bottle-top shortages have hit other companies in the poor country that has struggled to find foreign currency during the financial crisis.
Producers of Harar beer and Hakim Stout also cut production.
Local bottle-top manufacturers have been unable to keep up with demand from bottling companies who can no longer afford to source the tops abroad.
The company is also struggling to buy the concentrate needed to make the drink.
Street children have been collecting the tops from the streets of capital Addis Ababa and selling them back to companies to recycle. They are being paid around 20 U.S. cent for a kg.
Saudi-Ethiopian oil tycoon Sheikh Al-Amoudi, last week named by Forbes as the 43rd richest man in the world, distributes Pepsi in the Horn of Africa nation. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse)
