CCBSA empowers suppliers with business school education

Johannesburg, South Africa: Forty-two Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) suppliers will be upskilled at Henley Business School as part of the company’s 2025 Supplier Development Programme.

Now in its third year, CCBSA’s Supplier Development Programme is designed to strengthen the capabilities of black-owned and black-women-owned businesses. The Henley academic programmes cover core modules such as Systemic Management Practice, Innovative Wealth Creation, Managing Value Streams, and Synthesis and Integration.

“We aim to equip entrepreneurs within CCBSA’s value chain with vital business and leadership skills to develop and increase resilience, strong leadership and business acumen ad drive profitable growth. Ultimately, when their businesses thrive, they are able to contribute meaningfully towards job creation,” said Busi Thusi, Head of Procurement at CCBSA.

The candidates are split across two streams – the Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice and the Advanced Diploma in Management.

“The key to stimulating economic growth lies in empowering small, micro and medium-sized enterprises to get them out of the margins of economic activity and enable them to be really successful in the mainstream economy.”

“This initiative enables small businesses to scale up, diversify their client base, and increase their revenue,” said Jon Foster-Pedley, Dean & Director at Henley Business School. “Our goal is to build business leaders who are not only commercially astute but are also committed to creating employment and sustainable livelihoods.”

Feedback from previous candidates has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants already seeing tangible improvements in their business operations, such as expanding their offerings, hiring new staff, and entering new markets.

“By its very nature, entrepreneurship is not easy and entrepreneurs often take great personal risks. As CCBSA and industry broadly, we must continue to support these visionaries through robust training, coaching, and access to opportunities. This programme is not only about strengthening our supply chain – but rather, it’s about making a meaningful contribution to our country’s socio-economic development,” said Thusi.

  • Business, Sustainability

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Frank O’Donnell

Chief Commercial and Customer Officer, CCBA

Frank leads CCBA’s commercial agenda, with responsibility for accelerating revenue growth, strengthening route to market and customer partnerships and driving execution excellence across markets.

Frank brings extensive international experience from Coca‑Cola HBC, where he held a range of senior commercial and general management roles. Most recently, he served as Region Director, overseeing 13 markets across Europe, where he led high-performing teams and delivered strong business results.

He is recognised for his strong commercial acumen, customer focus and track record in building high-performing teams across diverse markets.

Gerald Lewis

Chief Information Officer, CCBA

Gerald leads CCBA’s digital, data and technology agenda, focusing on enabling business performance through scalable platforms and enhanced digital capabilities.  Gerald brings extensive international experience, most recently as Head of Technology Strategy & Operations at Coca‑Cola HBC. He has also held senior CIO roles at Bacardi across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as transformation roles at GlaxoSmithKline and Mettler Toledo. He is recognised for translating technology strategy into business value and for leading transformation across emerging markets.

Matthew Welz

General Counsel and Company Secretary, CCBA

Matthew joined us from the Clicks Group, a JSE Top-40 company, where he has been the Head of Legal and Company Secretary since 2016. In this role Matthew successfully navigated a highly regulated environment, including overseeing compliance with company laws and the JSE Listings Requirements. As company secretary, he managed governance at Board level as well as being the Chairman’s chief of staff. Prior to this, Matthew was a Legal Manager with Anglo American, a major multinational diversified mining group, which includes three companies listed on the JSE, with extensive operations across Southern Africa.

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