CCBSA partners with Henley Business School to empower suppliers

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Johannesburg – Teaching specialised business skills to small enterprises is key to growing the economy and supporting job and wealth creation.

This is according to Nozicelo Ngcobo, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability (PACS) Director at Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) which is partnering with the Henley Business School in Johannesburg on a strategic learning partnership for select suppliers in the CCBSA value chain.

Ngcobo said: “The primary focus of the partnership is to ensure that small, micro, and medium enterprises can play a meaningful role in the mainstream economy.”

The 2024 CCBSA-Henley Business School Supplier Development programme kicked off on Wednesday 17 January with the official launch at the Henley Business School Africa campus near Rivonia.

A total of 20 suppliers will attend the 12-month programme at HBS to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice, a NQF-8 level qualification.

This is the second year of the partnership between CCBSA and Henley Business School.
Ngcobo said the 2023 cohort were already seeing the benefits of the course in the running of their businesses and the opportunities for growth.

The course, offered online and face-to-face, includes Systemic Management Practice, Innovative Wealth Creation, Managing Value Streams and Synthesis and Integration among others.

The programme is targeted at suppliers who are at least 51% black-owned, 100% black and black female owned busineses, exempt micro-enterprises, or qualifying small enterprises in line with the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Codes of Good Practice.

Henley Business School, Director of Executive Education & Head of Learning Experience, Linda Buckley said: “This is such an important initiative to help small business owners grow their businesses and increase their contribution to the overall economy, including creating much needed jobs and supporting livelihoods.”

According to Buckley, the course modules are designed to help small businesses upscale their operations and grow their annual revenue by, amongst other things, increasing and diversifying their customer base and by being commercially astute.

“The programme has been rigorous, but they are resilient and their ability to meet challenges head-on make us proud,” she said of the Class of 2023 which is still ongoing.

Ngcobo added that it was important to support small business owners who often take enormous risks when starting out, including leaving stable employment to strike out on their own.

“As industry, we have a responsibility to encourage and support entrepreneurship by creating opportunities and empowering small and medium businesses through robust mentorship, coaching and training. The success of the programme will be in how the selected suppliers are able to increase their capacity, grow their businesses and create more jobs.”

Ngcobo added that “for CCBSA, this is building and growing capacity in its supply chain. But this investment is not just for ourselves as a leading beverages company, but ultimately much broader”.

Dr Roche Mamabolo, Director at Lora Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurs, and one of the suppliers selected for the course, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for me as a small business owner. “I worked hard to grow my business by training and mentoring entrepreneurs. Now I will be learning new skills which will help me take my business to the next level in terms of growth, and to be in a position to create more jobs and support others, which is so important,” Dr Mamabolo added.

Lora Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurs, is based in Pretoria and currently supports 10 jobs.

The CCBSA-Henley Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice Supplier Development Programme is an advanced diploma and graduate programme, for managers with 3-4 years of middle to senior management experience, technical or other specialists, as well as senior managers with no degree qualification but can access the programme via Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

 

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Rakesh Rajbally

Managing Director: South Africa

Rakesh is C-Suite leader with 26 years of experience in General Management, Sales, Marketing, Logistics and Finance within the FMCG space. He currently leads the South African business for Coca-Cola Beverages Africa. He has a strong growth mindset and has successfully led CCBSA’s Commercial business unit. He is a sought after thought leader in developing & implementing revenue growth and route to market strategies in both modern and emerging markets. Under his leadership CCBSA recently completed a R6bn/ $400m investment in an Affordability growth strategy. He has also led CCBSA’s strategic and operational Customer management and recently achieved the #1 ranking across FMCG in the Advantage survey for 2 consecutive years.

Rakesh leads the CCBSA executive team that has been instrumental in successfully leading a large organization across major transformation changes including the merger of six entities to form CCBSA, the Sugar Tax introduction, Talent diversity strategy and other major productivity initiatives. He is a trusted partner and builds trust-based relations with business partners, stakeholders, and authorities.

His purpose statement “We have 2 hands, one to help yourself, one to help others” reflects in the many young leaders he has successfully coached and mentored.

Janett Forbes

Commercial Excellence Director

Janett is a seasoned financial, logistics, and commercial executive who joins us from Vector Logistics previously a division of RCL Foods where she held position of Finance Director.

Prior to this, Janett was part of the Coca-Cola family, having occupied various senior roles of Finance Manager, Category Manager, Revenue Growth Manager and Channel Development Manager within ABI in 2002 and 2016.

Janett is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA), has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Rhodes University in Grahamstown and a higher diploma in Accounting from University of Natal in Durban.

Desilan Pillay

Logistics Director

He joined the Coke system as a Unit Manager Designate at ABI Midrand in 2008. Desilan encompasses 20 years of management experience from companies including Afrox (Linde Group), the South African Breweries (ABI soft drinks and SABMiller – now ABInbev), and Unilever.  

He has a wealth of experience and a vast skillset within South Africa and across the African continent – all at executive levels. This includes, but is not limited to, project management, engineering, production (gases), packaging (FMCG), as well as operations management, financial management, sales and distribution, procurement, and planning (demand, supply, and production). Desilan has managed portfolios across end-to-end Supply Chain (Sourcing, Demand, and Supply Planning), Warehouse Management, Production, and Distribution, including Customer Care, After-sales and reverse logistics. He was also accountable for the delivery of service excellence in order fulfilment, cost of goods sold enhancement via strategic sourcing, and the overall cash optimisation (inventory) across the business. His most recent role before re-joining the CCBSA family is as the Chief Operations Officer at Anchor Holdings, one of the largest privately-owned warehousing companies in South Africa.

Desilan is a qualified Mechanical Engineer and has completed a Management Development Programme from UCT. His areas of expertise include building high performance teams and E2E supply chain and commercial acumen.

Desilan has been happily married for the past 16 years and has a 12-year-old daughter and 18-month-old twins – a boy and a girl. In his spare time, he enjoys seeing new sights locally and abroad. He is always planning his next trip to an exciting destination together with his family.

Nozicelo Ngcobo

Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Director

Nozicelo started her corporate career in 1994 when she was recruited by Sasol into their Management Trainee Programme of the top 16 academic graduates in South Africa – class of 1993. In addition to Sasol, Nozicelo has since worked for listed companies such as Telkom SA, South African Breweries (SAB) as well as multi-national organisations such as Philip Morris International (PMI). In 2020, Nozicelo joined Coca Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) as Director for PACS.

Nozicelo has a demonstrable track record in successfully developing and managing corporate affairs and regulatory strategies for complex industries such as alcohol, tobacco and recently the beverages industry. Nozicelo has strong professional networks spanning more than 25 years in both public and private sectors. Her strategic insights, value creation, solutions orientation, strong business/political acumen, solid networks and ability to mobilise teams to successfully execute towards a common vision are just some of the many attributes she brings into any organisation.

Nozicelo is an advocate of human rights, animal rights and has a passion for youth/women empowerment.

Michael John Wilson

Finance Director

Michael started his working career at KPMG as a Manager and Trainee Accountant from 2002 until 2006. After completing his articles, his highest position held at KPMG was Audit Manager and Office Administration Manager. In 2006 to 2009, he worked at BASF South Africa (previously known as Engelhard South Africa), where he was appointed as Site Controller – Mobile Emissions Catalysts Division. He also served as a Team Leader for Finance when the company changed its ERP from JD Edwards to SAP. In 2009, Michael joined Coca-Cola Fortune (CCF) as Finance Manager – Business Support.

In 2015, he was assigned to the CCBA integration team as a Finance work stream member and later that year, Michael was appointed Finance Manager for Marketing, Sales and Distribution. Michael relocated to Windhoek, Namibia in January 2016 as Financial Director for Coca-Cola Beverages Namibia. In October 2017, Michael returned to Port Elizabeth as Group Financial Controller for CCBA, a position he currently holds. He serves on a number of boards and audit committees within the CCBA Group.

In 2000, Michael graduated with a B.Com (Accountancy) Degree from the University of Port Elizabeth and a year later, he completed his B. Com Honours (Accountancy) at the same university. He was admitted as a Chartered Accountant (CA) in 2005. In 2010, he completed his Executive Development Programme at the University of Stellenbosch Business School.

Moses Lubisi

Manufacturing & Technical Director

Moses has over 20 years of extensive experience spanning various industries such as Sugar, Food and Beverages, and Mineral processing, including 15 years within the Coca-Cola system, Moses brings a wealth of knowledge to this role.

His journey within CCBSA has seen him excel in positions ranging from Plant Manager, Regional Manufacturing Manager (Coastal) in CCBSA to Executive Director for Appletiser (Pty) Ltd. Before returning to CCBA within Group Office, Moses served as an Operations Director at Illovo Sugar (Pty) Ltd. His expertise lies in strategy formulation, governance and execution, with a focus on end-to-end value chain orchestration across manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and supply chain management.

Moses has held senior and executive management roles for over six years, overseeing regional and enterprise-level strategies, assets and resource allocation.

Agatha Masemola

Strategy and Performance Director

Agatha joined CCBSA in April 2020 from Absa Corporate and Investment Bank Africa, where she held various roles in the past nine years, including as Managing Principal for Strategy & Business Transformation and Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive of Barclays Africa Corporate Bank. She was a key figure in the build-out and integration of the Corporate Bank across 13 African markets.

Prior to joining Absa, Agatha was a Senior Management Consultant in Strategy and Innovation at Deloitte Consulting, South Africa. At Deloitte, Agatha worked on several executive-sponsored strategy and innovation projects across various sectors, as well as driving new business development. Prior to Deloitte, she worked in Life Sciences R&D for over ten years, both as a full-time researcher with publications in peer reviewed journals, and as a Portfolio Manager & COO for a biotechnology fund management, focusing on investment in early-stage biotech ventures and commercialisation.

Agatha holds a PhD in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Cape Town and has completed post-Doctoral research in South Africa and the USA. She obtained her BSc (Biochemistry and Physiology) and MSc (Biochemistry) from the University of the North. She completed a Management Advancement Programme at Wits Business School to help her transition from laboratory to business.

Agatha loves to travel and enjoys experiencing different cultures and sampling local cuisine.

Hannes Prinsloo

Country Sales Director

Hannes comes with a wealth of experience and strong commercial operations expertise stretching over 30 years within the Bottling system; truly an example of “home grown timber”.

In his most recent role, of General Manager Commercial, he managed the Revenue Growth, Route to Market, Category management, Channel Development and Knowledge and Insights. His previous experiences include that of General Manager Operations, District Manager and National Account Manager.

Among his career achievements, he counts being inducted as a Grand Master in 2021, which is a true testament to his passion for people, strong work ethic, and unwavering commitment to performance. The Masters are seasoned professionals in our core functions (Commercial, Logistics & Manufacturing) who have consistently delivered exceptional results in their 20-plus years of service in the organisation. CCBSA bestows its highest honour these professionals who have shown exemplary commitment, fortitude, passion, loyalty and most importantly, value-adding leadership.

In May 2023, at the annual Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) General Management Meeting (GMM) Awards, he was honoured to receive the CEO Award, which honours exceptional leadership that sets a clear example of consistently living our values. In his leisure time, Hannes follows a wide variety of debate platforms and sports.

Mkuseli Dlikilili

Human Resources Director

Mkuseli is a seasoned HR executive with more than 25 years in the FMCG sector. He has also held HR management roles in the chemical industry and state-owned enterprises. Prior to his appointment at CCBSA, Mkuseli was Group Executive, Human Resources, at Pioneer Foods. He also worked for leading South African organisations including Eskom, SAB, Dulux and Portnet.

At Pioneer Foods, he gained extensive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) experience and his career highlights include integrating SA Dried Fruits (Pty) Ltd and Ceres Fruit Juices (Pty) Ltd into Pioneer Foods Group, unbundling Craft Box Corrugated for sale to New Era Packaging (Pty) Ltd, integrating Moirs, Bowmans Ingredients and Savoury Foods into Bokomo Foods, the acquisition of the Sanitarium Cereals and Belso Cereals Limited to form Bokomo Foods UK, unbundling Todays Frozen Foods to merge with Heinz Foods SA, integrating Retail Brands InterAfrica (Pty) Ltd into The Ceres Beverages Company, unbundling Quantum Foods, and listing Pioneer Foods on the JSE.

His previous board experience includes serving on the Advisory Board of the University of Stellenbosch Business School, SA Dried Fruit (Pty) Ltd Board of Directors, and Ceres Fruit Juices (Pty) Ltd and its successor, The Ceres Beverages Company (Pty) Ltd, Board of Directors. Mkuseli has mentored many managers who have risen to be leaders in their respective fields and industries.

At CCBSA his accomplishments include merging and integrating six legacy entities to form CCBSA, achieving 50%+ Women in Leadership and maintaining it for four successive years, from 31% at CCBSA inception in July 2016; and crafting the CCBSA Diversity & Inclusion strategy and successfully delivering on its objectives. He was also instrumental in CCBSA achieving Level 1 B-BBEE recognition status and has received numerous Skills Development Awards from the FoodBev SETA.

Mkuseli is passionate about nurturing, developing and empowering people to realise their full potential. He is steadfast in his belief in human rights, accentuating human dignity, and socio- economic transformation. He describes himself as an authentic, courageous, resilient, humble, principled and values-based person, and a committed HR professional who believes in positive psychology.

He holds the following qualifications: MA Industrial and Organisational Psychology from University of Cape Town (UCT), B.Admin (Hons) Industrial Psychology from University of the Western Cape (UWC), Certified Director from the Institute of Directors SA (IoDSA), and
Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC).