Coca-Cola has announced that Ms. Luisa Ortega will become president of the company’s Africa operating unit, overseeing markets across the continent.
She currently serves as president of the company’s central area in Latin America, which includes Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Central America and the Caribbean.
He replaces Bruno Pietracci, who has been named president of Coca-Cola’s Latin America operating unit. Both changes will take effect on February 1, 2023, meaning Ms. Ortega will move to Johannesburg in 2023.
Both Ms. Ortega and Mr. Pietracci will report to Mr. Henrique Braun, who will become Coca-Cola’s President of International Development on January 1, 2023. Mr. Braun has served as president of Coca-Cola’s operating unit. Coca-Cola Latin America since 2020.
“I am happy to see Luisa use her global knowledge and experience to lead our operations in Africa,” said Mr. Braun. “I am also pleased to welcome Bruno to his native Latin America, where he has extensive experience in various markets.”
Ms. Ortega, originally from Spain, joined Coca-Cola in 2019 as Vice President and General Manager of the South America business unit. She was later named vice president and then president of South Latin.
In 2021, she took over as president of the newly created central area of the Latin America operating unit. She also serves as chair of the company’s Global Women’s Leadership Council.
Prior to Coca-Cola, he worked at SC Johnson for more than 14 years in various roles in Europe, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. He also worked at Endesa, a utility that mainly serves Spain and Portugal.
Ms. Ortega has a degree in business administration from Universidad Pontificia Comillas and an MBA from IESE Business School, both in Spain, in addition to participating in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
For his part, Mr. 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 South region of Brazil. Later he was appointed general manager of the Colombian, Venezuelan and Ecuadorian markets.
In 2016, Pietracci became Vice President of Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He later became president of the company’s East and Southern Africa business unit, and later served as president of the Middle East and Africa business unit. Mr. Pietracci was appointed to his current role as President of the Africa Operating Unit in 2021. He was appointed in 2022 to the US 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 has a degree in mechanical engineering from the State University of Campinas in Brazil and an MBA from INSEAD in France.