AFRICA – The Coca-Cola Company has undertaken top job reshuffling, naming Luisa Ortega as the new president of the company’s Africa operating unit, overseeing markets across the continent.
Ortega who currently serves as president of the company’s central zone in Latin America, which includes Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Central America and the Caribbean, replaces Bruno Pietracci, who has been named president of Coca-Cola’s Latin America operating unit.
Both changes, according to an official communique from the beverage giant, take effect Feb. 1, 2023.
Ortega, a native of Spain, joined Coca-Cola in 2019 as vice president and general manager of the South Latin business unit. She was later named deputy president and then president of South Latin.
In 2021, she became president of the newly created central zone of the Latin America operating unit. She also serves as chair of the company’s Global Women’s Leadership Council.
Prior to Coca-Cola, Ortega worked at SC Johnson for more than 14 years in various roles in Europe, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. She also worked at Endesa, a utility corporation that serves mainly Spain and Portugal.
Ortega has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Universidad Pontificia Comillas and an MBA from the IESE Business School, both in Spain, along with participating in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
The new appointments follow the promotion of Henrique Braun to the post of President, International Development for Coca-Cola, taking office on Jan. 1, 2023.
Ortega and Pietracci will report to Braun who will be transitioning to the new position having served as president of Coca-Cola’s Latin America operating unit since 2020.
“I’m happy to see Luisa take her knowledge and global expertise to lead our operations in Africa.
“I’m also pleased to welcome Bruno back to his native Latin America, where he has extensive experience across a number of markets,” Braun said.
Pietracci joined Coca-Cola in Brazil in 2008 as vice president of strategic planning and research. In 2010, he moved into operations to lead the Southern Brazil region.
He was later named general manager of the Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador markets. In 2016, Pietracci became vice president of operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
He later became president of the company’s South and East Africa business unit, followed by serving as president of the Africa and Middle East business unit.
Pietracci was named to his current role as president of the Africa operating unit in 2021, a new role that was created in 2020 when The Coca-Cola Company was undertaking global business restructuring.
A year after, Pietracci was appointed to the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA).
Prior to Coca-Cola, Pietracci was with McKinsey & Co. in Brazil and Lisbon. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil and an MBA from INSEAD in France.
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