Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, unveiled OJAJA Soft Drinks on Saturday at a factory in Ile-Ife, Osun State, marking the commercial launch of a beverage brand built around natural African ingredients.
The drinks are produced by Ojaja Pan Africa Limited. Flavours include orange, cola, and a range of zero-alcohol mocktails. The brand uses African citrus and kola nuts as primary ingredients, positioning itself as a locally sourced alternative to imported soft drink brands.
The launch was confirmed by the Ooni’s office and widely covered by Nigerian media outlets present at the event.
The OJAJA brand is being presented as more than a commercial product. The Ooni framed it as a statement on African economic self-reliance and consumer wellness, two themes that have gained traction across the continent as pressure mounts on foreign exchange and import dependency.
Kola nuts carry deep cultural significance in Yoruba tradition and across West Africa. Their inclusion in a mass-market soft drink is a deliberate signal about identity and origin, not just flavour.
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For Ile-Ife and Osun State, a functioning beverage factory represents direct employment and a local supply chain. The scale of that impact has not yet been confirmed in figures.
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Ojaja Pan Africa Limited secured a ₦10 billion funding programme in May 2025 to back the brand’s production and distribution. Africentra has confirmed the funding announcement. The source of that funding and its current disbursement status have not been independently verified.
No sales figures, distribution reach, or production capacity numbers were released at the launch event.
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Online reaction to the launch was broadly positive. Many commenters praised the push for Made-in-Africa manufacturing and the job creation potential of a locally owned production facility.
Two concerns emerged in public commentary and have not been resolved. First, some viewers of factory production videos flagged apparent worker safety issues on the production floor. Neither Ojaja Pan Africa Limited nor the factory management has responded to those observations publicly.
Second, unverified warnings about counterfeit OJAJA products began circulating online shortly after the launch. Africentra has not confirmed whether counterfeit products exist or whether the warnings are credible. The company has not issued a public statement addressing them.
While this news of the brand launch is confirmed What we have not confirmed is the distribution footprint of OJAJA Soft Drinks beyond Osun State. It is also not confirmed whether the ₦10 billion funding has been fully drawn down or is still being accessed. The worker safety concerns raised online have not been investigated or addressed on the record. The counterfeit warnings remain unverified.
