CCBA Ascend Leaders in Training Programme

Written by Thabo MokoenaSenior Education Editor

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

Ascend is the leadership-in-training programme of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Africa, with 14 territories on its list and Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) among its companies. CCBA calls Ascend its flagship accelerated leadership programme. Graduates spend 18 months rotating through the business, and CCBA says that by the end they should be ready for a first-line leadership role. Intake for the current cohort has closed; CCBA’s careers page tells applicants to watch for the next opportunity in 2027.

This page covers the graduate programme only. CCBSA’s school-leaver funding is a separate scheme, described on our CCBSA Study Buddy Bursary page.

Eighteen months of rotations, mentoring and masterclasses

According to the CCBA careers page, the programme blends real business experience, commercial immersion, mentoring by senior leaders, coaching circles and what the company calls future-ready learning, with hands-on projects and leadership masterclasses along the way.

In March 2026 CCBA announced that more than 60 trainees had joined the current cohort, which runs from March 2026 to August 2027. They came from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, and from degrees in business, engineering, supply chain, marketing and finance. Each trainee works in their home market while taking part in a pan-African learning group, and rotates through functions such as:

• Supply Chain
• Commercial
• Finance
• Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability (PACS)
• People and Culture

CCBSA’s own announcement of the South African intake added production, logistics and quality control to the areas trainees see. Trainees who complete the programme may be considered for permanent roles with more responsibility in the CCBA group, but CCBA does not promise a post. The company has not published the trainee salary.

Who CCBSA recruited in the last South African round

On 21 November 2025 CCBSA opened applications in South Africa, and the round closed on 30 November 2025, so the window was only about ten days. The CCBSA announcement set these requirements:

• a degree completed in 2023 or 2024, or one being completed in 2025;
• study in a field such as engineering, commerce or the life sciences, with microbiology named as an example;
• a candidate who is ambitious, adaptable, results-oriented, curious and solution-focused, in the words of CCBSA’s talent acquisition lead.

The next round may set different graduation years. CCBA has not published criteria for it, and no minimum mark or age limit appeared in the last announcement.

Applying through the CCBA graduate portal

Applications go through the CCBA graduate recruitment portal, which is separate from the portal for experienced staff. The portal has its own Ascend Programme category and a South Africa category. When we checked, both listed no open posts, and the page for the last Ascend advert showed it as closed. CCBA’s careers page asks candidates to create a profile and join its talent community; the portal then sends a notification when a new role in the candidate’s area of interest is loaded.

The same careers page also advertises Account Developer posts, frontline sales jobs in which graduates manage a territory and customer relationships. These are ordinary vacancies with their own application link, not part of Ascend.

Students still studying towards a business or engineering degree can look through our lists of commerce bursaries and engineering bursaries.

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