# Somaliland Beverage Industries (SBI): the Coca-Cola plant in Hargeisa > SBI in facts: the Guelleh family and the OGF and GSK groups, the 2012 Coca-Cola plant, products, the 2017 to 2019 dispute with Djibouti and the bank debt case. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/businesses/somaliland-beverage-industries/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## The short version Somaliland Beverage Industries (SBI) is a drinks company headquartered in **Hargeisa** ([Busiweek, archived 2021](https://web.archive.org/web/20210421083701/https://www.busiweek.com/sbi-sets-pace-for-industrialization-in-unrecognized-somaliland/)). In early 2010 it won the licence to build and run a Coca-Cola bottling plant in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([The Guardian, 20 July 2012](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/jul/20/somaliland-bottles-hopes-coca-cola-plant)). The **$17 million** plant opened on **22 May 2012**, with Somaliland's then president [Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud](/en/people/ahmed-mohamed-mohamoud-silanyo/) (Silanyo) at the ceremony ([Reuters, 23 May 2012](https://www.reuters.com/article/somalia-somaliland-cocacola/coca-cola-opens-bottling-plant-in-somaliland-idUSL5E8GN5GK20120523)). The Guardian called it Somaliland's single biggest investment to that date (same Guardian source). Its products include Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Dasani water, plus its own **Lis** dairy and **Miiran** juice brands, with a regional depot in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Beverage Industries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries)). Its official website is under the name Laas Group ([Laas Group](https://laas-group.com)). ## The family and group behind it SBI was founded by **Ahmed Osman Guelleh** (*Axmed Cismaan Geelle*), born in 1959 or 1960, with **Mustafe Osman Guelleh** as chief executive ([Wikipedia, Somaliland Beverage Industries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries)). National Public Radio named Moustapha Guelle and his brothers as the owners ([NPR, 28 August 2012](https://www.wgbh.org/news/2012-08-28/somaliland-a-pocket-of-stability-in-a-chaotic-region)). Their father, Osman Guelle Farah, started a business in Djibouti in 1949 and grew it into shipping, construction and property, the OGF group ([Financial Times, Coca-Cola boosts Somaliland economy, archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190918113626/https://www.ft.com/content/35ab85bc-80ca-11e0-8351-00144feabdc0)). Ahmed Osman Guelleh worked at Inchcape Shipping Services in Djibouti, rising from accountant to general manager, before starting his own firms. He held the Coca-Cola franchise for the north around 1985 and lost it when the civil war began; he regained it in late 2010 (same FT source). The Clingendael Institute's 2019 study lists the logistics firms of his **GSK Group**: Djibouti Container Freight Station, Djibouti Shipping Lines, East Africa Holdings, General Transport Services, Integrated Shipping Services, OGF Shipping, Premier Shipping Agency, Red Sea Express and Three Sixty Stevedoring ([Clingendael, Transnational capital in Somalia, June 2019](https://kpsrl.org/sites/kpsrl/files/2020-03/transnational-capital-in-somalia%20updated%20report.pdf)). ## The dispute with Djibouti, 2017 to 2019 - In **September 2017** Djibouti authorities issued an arrest warrant for Ahmed Osman Guelleh, who was in the UAE and moved to Hargeisa ([Horn Diplomat, October 2017](https://www.horndiplomat.com/the-djibouti-authorities-vowed-to-arrest-tycoon-ahmed-gelle-arab-upon-his-arrival-in-djibouti/); [Somali Tribune, 8 October 2017](https://www.somtribune.net/2017/10/08/ahmed-osman-guellehs-empire-collapsing/)). - In **March 2018** the Djibouti bank BCI Mer Rouge said GSK and Ahmed Osman Guelleh owed it about **$20 million**, a loan taken to build the Hargeisa Coca-Cola plant ([BBC Somali, 9 April 2019](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war-47871748)). - In **April 2019** the Somali news site Caasimada reported that several of his Djibouti companies, including Three Sixty Stevedoring and Djibouti Container Freight Station, had been handed to relatives of Djibouti's president ([Caasimada, 5 April 2019](https://www.caasimada.net/xog-ismaciil-cumar-geelle-oo-qoyskiisa-u-qeybiyey-hantidii-ganacsade-axmed-cismaan-geelle-ee-jabuuti/)). - In **September 2023** the Madagascar weekly *L'Écho du Sud* ranked him second among the richest people in Djibouti, at $160 million ([L'Écho du Sud, 7 September 2023](https://www.lechodusud.com/les-10-personnes-les-plus-riches-de-djibouti/)). ## Sources disagree - **Who founded SBI.** Wikipedia names Ahmed Osman Guelleh; NPR named Moustapha Guelle and his brothers ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Beverage_Industries); [NPR](https://www.wgbh.org/news/2012-08-28/somaliland-a-pocket-of-stability-in-a-chaotic-region)). - **The Mogadishu plant is a different company.** A separate Coca-Cola plant in Mogadishu was reopened in 2004 by a company owned by 339 Somali shareholders who raised $8.3 million ([StrategyPage, 5 July 2004](https://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20040705.aspx)). See also [Somaliland's economy](/en/economy/somaliland-economy/). --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.