Coca-Cola will base its largest bottling operation in Africa in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Starting in March 2015, Hüseyin Akin will step into his new role as CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa and lead the strategic and integration planning of its establishment. The bottler, which plans to merge with SABMiller, Gutsche Family Investments, and the Coca-Cola Company, is expected to serve 12 countries in the southern and eastern regions of Africa.

Akin is currently deputy CEO of the of the Beverage Group of Anadolu Efes, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey and is the chairman of Coca-Cola I√ßecek’s (CCI) subsidiary boards. In prior years, he held the position of president of international operations for CCI, as well as general manager for CCI Turkey.

Akin received a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton in 1981. He later earned his MBA in marketing and finance from the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.