Grant Hardy
Capitec CFO
A leap towards leadership
Dirk Viljoen
Hollard Group CFO
Tackling transformation
Welela Dawit
Microsoft South Africa CFO
An Africa-inspired leader
3 Steps to A revolutionary high-perfomance team CFO Dinners urge SA to bring back Ubuntu
CFO Cares Megan Pydigadu spent a day in a wheelchair
A deep dive into the impact of loadshedding
Georgina Guedes
Executive Community Director
gguedes@cfo.co.za
+27 83 651 2789
Karen Martin
Sales Manager
kmartin@cfo.co.za
+27 82 920 8259
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Managing Editor cfourie@cfo.co.za
+27 68 583 9270
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Marketing Manager
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Photography
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Associate Editor
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Design
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Contributors
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Publisher
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About CFO South Africa
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South Africans have faced multiple blows over the last three years, and while it didn’t start with Covid-19, the pandemic acted as a catalyst for everything that tested our resilience. Now, however, the word “resilient” has been replaced with “future-ready”, and number crunchers have turned into change agents.
In October last year, during our first live Finance Indaba since the onset of the pandemic, finance professionals from across Africa were urged by the Auditor-General of South Africa, Tsakani Maluleke, to “be better, and do better”. She called on everyone to use their positions of power to influence positive change, and many have taken up the challenge [see page 48].
In our cover interview, 2022 CFO of the Year Arno Daehnke shared how he has been making sure, through his role, that Standard Bank is ready to operate in a changed world [see page 20].
We also read how Punki Modise, Buhle Hanise and Boitumelo Mosako have traded in their CFO roles for new roles that will improve the reach of their impact as leaders [see page 12], EOH FD Megan Pydigadu spent a day in a wheelchair to try and bring more atten-
tion to the challenges disabled people still face in the workplace [see page 60], and Hollard Group CFO Dirk Viljoen is enabling transformation as a white, Afrikaans man [see page 40].
And it’s no secret that, in order for any organisation to make it to the future, they need a revolutionary team. At the first CFO Summit of 2023, finance leaders like Simon Adams, Mikateko Tshetshe, Avashnee Ramdial, Eddie Fivaz and Craig Sumption all revealed how they are building high-performance teams with the skills they need to navigate entirely new environments [see page 36].
We also heard during multiple CFO Dinners that, despite the horizons being clouded with challenges at the moment, there is still hope for better weather – if everyone bands together and brings back the spirit of Ubuntu [see pages 26, 64, and 70]!
At CFO South Africa, we try to make a meaningful impact through our content. We are proud of the way we can bring leaders together from all industries during our events to collaborate on finding solutions that will enable a better future.
Caylynne Fourie
ers,” Zaf said when he first joined the group in November as CFO designate. Zaf took over from Ralph Buddle, who had been serving as Oceana’s interim CFO since the company bid farewell to two of its executives in August 2022. He joins the group from Cell C, where he was responsible for the turnaround and recapitalisation of the telecommunications company. “The recapitalisation is imminent and the sheer effort required to get the business to this stage, ready for its next phase as a transformed digital player, has been the highlight of my career so far,” Zaf said.
chief of support services. He joined Clicks in 2006, and has served in various finance-related roles within the pharmaceutical group since.
Woolworths appointed Zaid Manjra as its interim CFO in March 2022. Reeza Isaacs, who has been the company’s group FD for the last decade, has decided to step down from the position to pursue new interests.
Zaid has been with Woolworths for 15 years, most recently serving as head of group planning and reporting. Before that, he was the finance manager for the company’s Retail Operations Group.
Eskom appointed Martin Buys as its new interim CFO in March 2022. Martin joined Eskom in 1987 and has served in various roles within its finance function, including his most recent role as general manager for finance.
The utility’s former CFO, Calib Cassim, was appointed as the utility’s interim CEO following the early departure of Andre de Ruyter in February. Calib has spent over 19 years working at Eskom, including several years leading the regulation department. He was appointed CFO in November 2018, after serving as acting CFO from July 2017.
In the same month, Zaf Mahomed stepped in as Oceana Group’s new CFO. “I'm really excited to be joining the Oceana Group with its long history, global reach and excellent empowerment credentials. I’m looking forward to working with the team to unlock value for all stakehold-
Lerato Pule, who was part of Zaf’s finance team throughout the restructure, has taken over the finance department as Cell C’s new CFO. Prior to joining Cell C, Lerato was the CFO of Telkom’s SME segment. She served as the company’s executive of finance enablement for two years, and as an executive finance business partner for its corporate segment in 2016.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) also appointed Fawzia Suliman as its new CFO at the beginning of 2023. She took over from interim CFO Carmini Kander, who stepped in after the resignation of Aarti Takoordeen in May 2022. Fawzia most recently served as the special projects executive at Stanlib. Before that she served in various executive roles for companies like Macquarie Holdings, Equities South Africa and Mazi Macquarie Securities.
Gordon Traill has succeeded Clicks Group CFO Michael Fleming, who retired at the end of 2022. Gordon was identified as next in line for the role while serving as the group’s
Siphamandla Mthethwa will join ArcelorMittal South Africa as its new CFO on 1 July 2023, following the end of his contract as the CFO of Airports Company South Africa. Suretha van Wyk, who has been serving as interim CFO since September 2021, will stay in the role until that time.
year.Lerato Pule Zaid Manjra
Polani Sokombela has been the CFO at the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) for a year now, and explains that it has been a baptism of fire.
“The AGSA plays a huge role in South African society and in strengthening the democracy of the country through auditing and I am proud to be making a meaningful contribution to this,” he says.
He stepped into the role on 1 March 2022, during its financial year-end, and at the beginning of the AGSA’s strategic transformation. He was also briefly responsible for overseeing the chief technology officer role until June, when a new CTO was appointed.
“It was quite hectic at the time, but it was exciting to be given the opportunity to oversee the finances of the organisation and to ensure its financial sustainability,” Polani explains.
At the end of April 2022, the AGSA announced that it would be rolling out a new strategy, and Polani’s role is to develop a finance strategy and funding model that will ensure the regulator is able to fund that “bold” strategy. Along with ensuring that the AGSA teams have the capacity to support the strategy transformation, Polani has also undertaken to develop their skills to deliver value in this new operating environment.
Polani has been with the AGSA since 2007, when he joined the regulator as an assistant audit manager. He has climbed his way through the ranks, serving as a technical audit manager, senior manager and business executive before taking on his current role.
“It was such a defining moment for the office to have appointed someone that was a product of their training,” he says. “It’s also very inspiring for
RMB Holdings has appointed Ellen Marais as its new executive financial director. In December 2022, Ellen relinquished her positions as company secretary and financial manager, and stepped into the shoes of Herman Bosman, who will step down as CEO and FD.
Herman has also tendered his resignation as a CFO Awards judge, a position he’s held since 2019. “When I accept an appointment, I commit time and attention to it,” he said. “As I would like to spread my contribution across several organisations, stepping down from roles where I’ve added as much value as I can is necessary for me to add value to new and additional responsibilities elsewhere.”
Taryn Woodbridge took over as Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s CFO from Klaus Eser, who retired at the end of November 2022. Taryn most recently served as the company’s senior manager of plant account and control. She started at the car manufacturer in 2004 in the controlling division and rose through the ranks,
young people, both in the AGSA and in the country.”
Polani has stepped into the shoes of Bongi Ngoma, who was crowned the 2021 CFO of the Year for her work as the AGSA’s CFO. “Bongi has done an amazing job for the AGSA, and while it’s a lot of pressure to take over from her, it’s also a blessing,” Polani says. “I have spent a lot of time learning from her during the handover process, and I can still draw from her experience and insights today.” l
different industry than what I’m used to, which is exciting. I think being able to implement learnings from the past into a different environment is going to be what I am most interested to see.”
Senele Mbatha has traded in his role as Discovery Vitality’s CFO to become the Discovery group’s new chief risk officer. “It has been an incredible journey as the CFO of Vitality, and I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences that have led me to this point,” he said.
serving as the manager of plant performance and operation, as well as manager of accounts and tax.
Bryan Groome was appointed as the CFO of Reflex Solutions, leaving his role as Verimark’s FD, which he held for seven years. “It was an extremely tough decision, given how long I had been at Verimark,” he said. “It’s a very
Grindrod Shipping has appointed Deborah Davel as its new CFO, effective 1 April 2023. Deborah will take over from Stephen Griffiths, who has retired as the company’s interim CEO and CFO.
Deborah has been with the company since 2004, and most recently served as the general manager of treasury and projects, as well as a director of the operating subsidiary of Grindrod Shipping. She has also been a member of the executive committee of the company since 2020.
Sandiso Gcwabe was appointed as the new CFO of Wesgro in January. “It is with great excitement and humility that I take on the CFO role at Wesgro,” he said. “I look forward to bringing my expertise in understanding context, having a clear long-term view, and navigating ambiguity to an already-successful agency in the Cape.”
Sandiso has held various finance leadership roles within the public sector, as well as with the AuditorGeneral of South Africa.
Curro Holdings has appointed its group financial manager, Burtie September, as the successor to CFO Cobus Loubser. Burtie joined Curro in 2016.
Cobus stepped into the role of CEO in January, after two years in the CFO role. “I look forward to building on the firm foundation set by my predecessors in this profoundly important business,” he said.
Liquid Intelligent Technologies appointed Craig Domoney as its new interim CFO. Craig took over from Sandile Ntsele, who stepped away from the role to take sick leave in March 2023.
Vodafone Group’s CFO Margherita Della was appointed as the company’s interim CEO in December, when Nick Read stepped down from the chief executive role. Margherita was appointed group CFO in July 2018 and will remain in the role until the company has appointed a new finance officer.
Vodafone’s recent leadership shake-ups have also included the appointment of 2018 CFO of the Year and former AngloGold Ashanti CFO Christine Ramon as a non-executive director to the company.
Not long after that, Christine also took up a seat on the Clicks Group board as a non-executive director.
Bidvest Group CFO Mark Steyn has also taken up a non-executive director role, and joined the Adcock Ingram board in April.
Sygnia appointed Carmen le Grange as its financial director in April. Carla joins Sygnia from EY, where she served as a partner and director until September 2022. Before that, she served as the group CFO of Denel.
Thabile Ngidi is the brand-new CFO excited to head up Bidvest Prestige’s finance department. She joins Bidvest from Toyota, where she was a franchise finance manager at NMI-DSM. “It is a complex business and a new industry that is out of my comfort zone. It will be a rewarding experience,” she said.
Libstar CFO Charl de Villiers took over the CEO role in January, following the retirement of Andries van Rensburg. Charl was appointed to the role of CFO at Libstar in 2020. “I am fully committed to further accelerating the implementation of the group’s strategy to ensure future success and unlock shareholder value,” Charl said.
Jaco Maritz has been promoted to the role of global CEO of Syspro. “It is an honour to lead Syspro as we look at accelerating our business across the globe,” says Jaco. “Our customer and partner success and experience are at the heart of everything we do.”
Having formerly served as the company’s CFO and COO, Jaco is well-positioned to drive the business strategy and vision of the company while overseeing its daily operations.
Swissport South Africa appointed Neena Harri as CFO in July 2022, after she had served as financial manager since 2018. Prior to joining Swissport South Africa, Neena served in a treasury and compliance role, as well as a regional finance controller for Gauteng at Cambridge Food.
Buffalo Coal’s Emma Oosthuizen has taken up the company’s CFO role once again, after serving as CEO since April 2020. Emma joined Buffalo Coal as the vice president of finance in March 2018 and was appointed CFO in October that same year. In February 2019, Buffalo Coal’s CEO stepped down, and Emma was appointed as interim CEO, in addition to continuing her role as CFO.
In August 2019, Graham du Preez was appointed as interim CFO, and in February 2020, Willie Bezuidenhout took up the role as CFO of the company. Willie stepped down from the role in September 2022.
PPS has appointed Anushuya Gounden as its new group CFO. She joins PPS
from WesBank, where she’s been the CFO since 2018. Before that, she was the group CFO of DirectAxis, and the executive director of finance at Barloworld Equipment respectively.
Sirius Real Estate appointed Chris Bowman as its new CFO in August 2022. Chris brings nearly 25 years’ accounting, finance and capital markets experience with him to the role.
When he joined the company, Chris took over from Alistair Marks, who has been serving as interim CFO since Diarmuid Kelly went on paternity leave in August last year. Alistair will resume his focus fully on his role as chief investment officer, which he has held since January 2021.
Dipula Income Fund appointed Sudesh Moodley as its new FD in March, following the resignation of Ridwaan Asmal. Sudesh most recently held the position of the executive head of asset management at Eris Property Group. He also served as the company’s CFO from 2012 to 2017, and as the general manager of finance, risk and compliance from 2007 to 2012.
Nerishini Naidoo stepped down as the group CFO and executive director of Etion in January, in order to pursue other interests. She joined the group in November 2018 as a group financial controller and was promoted to group CFO in February 2021.
York Timber appointed Schalk Barnard as its CFO in November 2022. Schalk has been the company’s external audit partner representing PwC in his capacity as the Africa Family Business Leader since 2019. The appointment will see him resign from PwC. The appointment will also see Gerald Stoltz step down as interim CFO of the company, a position he has held since his appointment to CEO in July.
2022 CFO Awards nominee Brad Wentzel left his role as Douglasdale Dairy CFO at the end of 2022 and joined Frey’s Food Brands as its new CFO at the start of 2023. “I am really looking forward to bringing my expertise and brand of leadership into the company, where I am hoping to make a long-lasting impact on the employees, communities and the region as a whole,” Brad says.
In the new year, Jenna Sprenger returned to the position of Investec Property Fund CFO after stepping down from the role in 2020 to spend more time with her young family.
“My career to date, and the last nearly nine years spent at Investec Property Fund, has enhanced my strategic thinking, and allowed me to be adaptable, progressive and passionate while still enhancing my organisational and project management skills,” Jenna said.
She explained that she has succeeded through times of crisis by implementing the appropriate crisis management and using her communication skills, which provided her with the experience and leadership to enable and guide teams to achieve both strategic and operational deliverables. “I have a deep love for Africa and a great respect for its many people. I am passionate about growing and developing business and people,” she adds.
Jenna has been the interim CFO since July 2022. She joined the company in August 2014 and in 2018 was appointed as CFO. “During my tenure, I have been responsible for multiple facets of the business, from all aspects of financial reporting to the set-up and management of conservative balance sheet and treasury management function,” Jenna said.
She explained that her time at the fund has provided her with new growth
Liberty Life Botswana has appointed Whitney Kalaote-Moyo as its head of finance. Prior to joining Liberty, Whitney served as the head of finance for Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet). Before that, she was an independent consultant for Metropolitan Life Botswana.
Yvonne Bredenhann was named as the new CFO for African insurtech aYo Holdings in March. The appointment follows Sanlam’s acquisition of 50 percent of the aYo business in late 2022 from MTN. Yvonne has worked for Sanlam for the last 20 years and has held positions like head of finance for SanlamConnect’s sales and distribution division, as well as head of finance and procurement for the group’s technology and information shared services.
Multinational miner OceanaGold appointed South African Marius van Niekerk as its new executive VP and CFO. Marius will be replacing Scott McQueen, who didn’t want to relocate to Vancouver, Canada, for family reasons. Marius will start in the new role in mid-2023 from its head office in Vancouver. l
opportunities, including exposure to all aspects of the business, and a key role in the continued successful implementation of the fund’s strategy of capital optimisation.
Prior to joining Investec Property Fund, Jenna served as a financial manager for Annuity Properties for a year. From 2009 until 2013 she was a manager and audit clerk at KPMG South Africa. She also completed a six-month secondment to KPMG New York during this time. l
The CFO role has changed significantly over the last couple of years, and business is expecting a much more strategic partner to navigate the new normal. With ESG, technology and wellbeing becoming a non-negotiable for companies worldwide, finance leaders are trading their number crunching skills for new ones!
We caught up with three CFOs who have bid their finance roles goodbye and welcomed new opportunities to drive impactful change.
Punki, who most recently served as Absa’s interim FD while Jason Quinn temporarily took up the CEO role, became the bank’s chief strategy and sustainability officer in July 2022.
“The combination of strategy and sustainability in one role presents significant opportunities to bring about positive change in the economic, societal and environmental space. As a bank, we are aware of the role we play in contributing to sustainable development. One of the five key themes in our strategy is to be an active force for good in everything we do,” Punki said. “I’m excited about the potential that there is within our business to take bolder steps in making an even more meaningful contribution.”
She added that financial inclusion is among the areas where she sees significant scope for change that can have a positive impact at scale.
“It is important to assess where we are as Absa in the context of sustainability and to gain a deeper understanding of the external environment. We relook our strategy from time to time to ensure that it remains relevant and appropriate, or that it is adjusted where required, as our operating environment evolves and changes,” Punki explained. “ESG was elevated as a priority during a review of the strategy 2021, and a large part of my role will be to entrench and inculcate our commitment to sustainability
more deeply within the organisation.”
She added that Absa had already made significant progress in several areas, including being the largest funder of renewable energy in South Africa.
Punki has also established a sustainability function within the group. “The new strategy and sustainability role brings added impetus in our drive to promote sustainability within our business so as to ultimately improve Absa’s performance and standing in this space. Our aim is not only to meet basic, or even benchmark requirements, but to outperform,” she said.
She explained that her approach will be to focus on the ‘E’ as much as the ‘S’ in ESG. “While our planet and its people undeniably face an existential question, we are conscious of the hierarchy of basic human needs in our communities in Africa, which generates a fraction of global greenhouse gases. In this context, we will be socially responsible as much as we are environmentally responsible.”
Punki added that, “As we consider the broad range of issues within the strategy and sustainability portfolio, another important focus for me is to help lift the perception of Absa as an attractive employer among talent across profiles.”
As she starts to mobilise the new function, Punki hopes to bring insights to the respective business units to enable them to respond more strongly to strategy and sustainability challenges.
“The combination of strategy and sustainability in one role presents significant opportunities to bring about positive change in the economic, societal and environmental space.”
For the last three years, Buhle has been the CFO of automotive company BAIC SA. After meeting with the BDO team to discuss a possible career opportunity, she knew it was time to see what else is out there.
“I met up with the team running the business restructuring division,” Buhle explained. “I had worked with them before while I was working at the IDC, when they were our business rescue practitioners. After our conversation, I was hooked.”
While it might be daunting to take on a new role, in a new industry, Buhle is looking forward to being the COO at BDO Business Restructuring. “It gives me the opportunity to be on the other side of the business. I’ve always been the funder, now I’ll be driving operations, restructuring and turning around businesses.”
She added: “I hope I’ll learn a lot about how different businesses work, and how entrepreneurship can be improved in South Africa.”
The new role, however, isn’t completely different from her role as CFO. “The majority of the work will be analysing the financial status of these companies,” Buhle explained. “Every business is started to make a profit. The minute it makes a loss is when you have to worry. My job will be to think about how we can turn those
losses around and how to improve the revenue line to ensure the business is sustainable.”
Because of this, Buhle will be bringing a lot of her learnings from her previous role. “I’ll use what I’ve learnt to analyse whether the financially distressed businesses are worth saving and then turn them around.”
Buhle began her career in accounting at a competitor firm in 2005, spending four years there until she moved on to Nedbank as a credit manager. She then took up the senior credit evaluation manager role at Standard Bank before becoming the senior business rescue specialist and team leader at the Industrial Development Corporation. In 2020, Buhle was appointed as the CFO at BAIC SA.
As a nod to her leadership skills, she serves as the non-executive director for multiple organisations including Transaction Capital, OUTsurance Holdings and its subsidiaries, Safcol, and while previously filling the role for Shishangeni Private Lodge, Windtown SA and BioDX Biological Chemical Technologies. Additionally, Buhle is the board chair of Summit Africa Private Equity and an Investment committee member of Mahlako Fund Financial Services.
Buhle holds memberships at The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA), and South African Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners (SARIPA).
“I hope I’ll learn a lot about how different businesses work, and how entrepreneurship can be improved in South Africa.”
2022 CFO Awards nominee and CFO Boitumelo became the first African woman CEO of the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) in April. “I am humbled to be stepping into this office to serve my country and my continent,” she said.
Boitumelo is passionate about people and looks forward to ensuring that employees are armed with all the tools, capacity and support they need to excel. “Equally important are the people who benefit from the work we do – actively paying attention to their needs to ensure that we are fit for purpose in the infrastructure we deliver,” she added.
“In this role, I hope to bring that passion into every room I walk into and, together with the DBSA team, continue to ignite transformative change towards better livelihoods in our country and across the continent,” Boitumelo explained.
Boitumelo took up the new role on 1 April following a “seamless” handover process that kicked off in February. She joined the DBSA in 2013, but briefly left the bank in 2016 to serve as CFO at the South African Bureau of Standards, then returned to the DBSA as CFO in 2018.
“I look forward to continuing to work closely with our shareholders, the Minister of Finance and the National Treasury, as well as our partners, which includes government departments, commercial banks, other DFIs, policy makers and influencers, service providers, and our clients,” she said.
Boitumelo has experience working in the finance departments for companies like Citigroup, Life Healthcare, Triumph Venture Capital and EY. She holds a BCom Accounting Degree, a post graduate diploma in accounting, and a higher diploma in auditing from the University of Cape Town. She is a qualified CA(SA) and also holds an advanced management certification from the Harvard Business School. l
“I hope to bring that passion into every room I walk into and continue to ignite transformative change towards better livelihoods…”
Every year, the CFO Awards shines a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of South Africa’s leading finance professionals as they continue to steer the future of business. Last year was no different!
The evening of 16 November 2022 will go down as one of the most memorable in South Africa’s finance industry. The country’s top finance professionals made their way to the Polo Room at the Inanda Club in Sandton to be honoured at the ninth annual CFO Awards, aptly nicknamed the Oscars of the finance profession, for their exceptional work in finance. Many dubbed the last two years the toughest in the country, let alone in finance, making the top honours and recognition even more prestigious.
The venue was decorated in black, white, and gold; the patio, which housed the open bar overlooking the polo fields, had a black bedouin tent adorned with beautiful lighting, and as guests entered the ceremony hall, they were greeted by cascading chandelier lights and the most exquisite table settings. Guests were greeted by the sounds of an exceptional saxophonist, who created an elegant atmosphere. Cathy Del Mei’s renditions of greatest hits were so accurate, you’d be forgiven for thinking the original song was playing in the background.
Drinks in hand, guests were entertained by funnyman Loyiso Madinga, who kicked off proceedings with his unique brand of comedy.
Georgina Guedes, executive community director at CFO South Africa, then provided a look back at previous awards and some of the memorable moments. She thanked the CFO Awards sponsors for their support of the CFO community and the awards. “I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the nominees and previous award winners, some of whom are now serving as judges for this year’s awards,” she said.
In an opening keynote address from the principal partner, Deloitte, the company’s Africa’s CEO Ruwayda Redfearn expressed her delight at being in the same room filled with familiar faces, peers, and like-minded
individuals after such a difficult two years. “This is a time where our people need us the most,” she said. “And it’s a responsibility that weighs heavily on the shoulders of CFOs.”
Next, the Johannesburg Queer Choir, a group that speaks – or rather sings – about diversity, and their colourful outfits reflected that, took to the stage. They sang Gloria Gaynor’s “I Am What I Am”, which speaks of living one’s most authentic life unapologetically, which struck a chord with the audience.
The awards ceremony, the night’s most anticipated event, followed. Deepa Sita, CFO of Tiger Brands, who won the Compliance & Governance Award, said that the CFOs in attendance owed it to themselves to keep their heads up in the face of adversity, a type of leadership that encourages their team members to do the same.
Deepa also received the Finance & Technology Award.
Deon Smith, FD at Thungela, received the HighPerformance Team Award. His team, which was also a table sponsor, cheered with excitement, knowing that the Award was just as much theirs.
Dirk Viljoen, CFO at Hollard Group, was the winner of the Transformation & Empowerment Award. It was both an honour and privilege to work for an organisation that is purpose driven, he said in his acceptance speech. [You can read more about Dirk’s transformation and empowerment journey on page 40.]
Risto Ketola, group finance director at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings, walked away with the Finance Transformation Award.
The Young CFO of the Year title was awarded to Mpolaheng Mohlopi, the CFO of Lanseria International Airport. For the past three years, Mpolaheng has been focusing on helping Lanseria International Airport and its employees survive the impact of Covid-19 and consequent travel restrictions. As the CFO, she is also
• CFO of the Year (sponsored by Deloitte) – Arno Daehnke, chief finance and value management officer, Standard Bank Group
• Young CFO of the Year (sponsored by TreasuryONE) – Mpolaheng Mohlopi, CFO, Lanseria International Airport
• Public Sector CFO of the Year – Ashraf Dindar, CFO, CSIR
• Strategy Execution Award (sponsored by Workday) – Arno Daehnke
• Transformation & Empowerment Award (sponsored by Deloitte) – Dirk Viljoen, CFO, Hollard Group
• High-Performance Team Award – Deon Smith, FD, Thungela
• Compliance & Governance Award – Deepa Sita, Group CFO, Tiger Brands
• Finance Transformation Award (sponsored by Coupa) – Risto Ketola, Group FD, Momentum Metropolitan Holdings
• Moving into Africa Award (sponsored by Standard Bank) – Arno Daehnke
• Finance & Technology Award – Deepa Sita
responsible for crafting and implementing the airport’s B-BBEE strategy resulting in a significant improvement in the B-BBEE compliance level. A risk champion at heart, she has identified gaps in the company’s risk strategy, and implemented policies to fill those gaps. As part of the company’s digital transformation strategy, she has also overseen the move from a manual cash book to an automated process.
Ashraf Dindar, CFO at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), won the Public Sector CFO of the Year Award.
Tendayi Viki, award-winning author and corporate innovation expert, delivered a keynote address titled “The entrepreneurial CFO”. He discussed the sometimes contentious relationship between CFOs and innovation teams. “CFOs sometimes get upset with innovators because when they ask for money, innovators assume, according to some CFOs, that there is a bottomless pit of money available for what is often a big bet or gamble, because to a certain extent, you have to invest in the unknown,” he explained.
With that in mind, Tendayi left the guests with something to ponder for the coming year: “How much are you willing to invest in ideas that have no business case in 2023?” he asked.
Finally, the time came for one of the nominees to be
crowned the winner, and that was Standard Bank’s Arno Daehnke, who walked away with the prestigious honour of CFO of the Year.
Arno is the chief finance & value management officer for the Standard Bank Group (SBG), a role that was created to drive the financial and value management disciplines of strategy formulation and execution, optimised resource allocations and monetising value opportunities. This forms part of SBG's refreshed strategy to focus on value management through ecosystems and partnerships.
Arno believes that collaboration through agile and empowered teams is critical to grow and compete in the fourth industrial revolution. His leadership style is to be approachable, to be open to new ideas, to be supportive and empathetic, and to bring the best out in everyone.
He said the award would not have been possible without the support of his team. “My team and I have focused heavily on strategy at Standard Bank this year, so seeing their hard work recognised means a lot to me,” he said. “This recognition is a result of the hard work my team and I have put in, and it is what motivates me to come to work every day.”
Arno also walked away with the Strategy & Execution Award, and the Moving into Africa Award. l
With his title as chief finance and value management officer, and an evolving strategy at Standard Bank Group, it’s no wonder Arno Daehnke won the 2022 CFO of the Year Award! Caylynne Fourie caught up with him to find out how much work really went into making the group – and the CFO role – future-ready.
On 16 November 2022, Arno Daehnke was crowned the CFO of the Year at the glamorous annual CFO Awards ceremony. The honour recognised Arno for his outstanding leadership and performance in driving growth and profitability at Standard Bank. However, Arno accredits his success to the people delivering an “amazing” finance function for the group.
“While I am humbled and privileged to have won this award, it’s really a recognition of the 1,500 people who have worked so hard to change so much in a very complex and ambiguous environment,” he says. “It is because of them that we can continue to stay abreast of the business and regulatory requirements and continue to deliver value to the group overall.”
He explains, while he is proud of the work he has done in finance, the real bragging rights come from growing the group’s stakeholder value – growing clients’ opportunity to improve their lives, working with regulators to do ethical business, supporting governments, and ensuring a sustainable planet. “The title doesn’t do anything, your actions do.”
Arno’s finance team has been focused on being much more than just the number crunchers. “Historically finance has just been about putting the numbers together every month and recording the P&L in a rigorous manner while maintaining appropriate levels
of financial control. But of course, it’s so much more than that,” he says.
Increasingly, the finance industry is seeing its professionals focus more on strategy, resource allocation, as well as enabling change and digital transformation.
“We’re preserving and growing value across so many spectrums,” Arno adds.
It’s because of these changing responsibilities that Standard Bank has given their finance leaders, including Arno, the titles of chief finance and value management officers (CFVO). “As CFVO, you need to do three things: ensure the business can manage and thrive in an uncertain environment; retain, attract and empower talent and scarce skills; and manage ESG matters – which are especially important on the African continent.”
In 2020, Standard Bank wrote off R20 billion of bad loans due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and for the first time since listing in the 70s it didn’t pay a dividend. As a result, Arno and the rest of the management team took the opportunity to pivot the business so that it is better placed to deal with shocks like the pandemic.
“As the biggest financial institution in Africa, we have to continue to reinvent ourselves to remain relevant to our clients and all our stakeholders. We realised the
world will never be the same, and if we don’t pivot now, we will be lagging behind,” Arno says. “So, we thought about our value drivers and how we are future-proofing those.”
For Standard Bank, being future-fit means being able to compete in the fourth industrial revolution, which has been catalysed by data, digital platforms, cloud computing and machine learning. He explains that banks have a wealth of information about their clients that the sector hasn’t been good at monetising because of fragmentation. “As a result, we’ve undertaken a deep push into data the last two years, using machine learning and tools to anticipate what a client needs and when.”
Using this data, Arno and CEO Sim Tshabalala realised that there was an opportunity in this for Standard Bank and went to work on the company’s future-ready transformation, which would see it become an ecosystem and platform-type organisation. At the 2022 CFO Awards, Arno received the Strategy Execution Award for his contribution in executing the company’s new model.
“Historically, the bank has operated using a linear value chain model, where it owned the entire value chain for manufacturing, maintaining, servicing and distributing its products to the clients. The new business model is a networked environment, which is why companies like Amazon and Google are so successful,” Arno explains. “With a platform and ecosystem environment, you don’t have to manage and own the entire value chain. You have multiple participants that help you augment the value chain.”
Standard Bank identified 10 ecosystems, five they would participate in, and five that they would orchestrate, including agriculture, trade, home services, energy, mobility, and health.
An example of this is that the bank used to provide the mortgage products for homeowners. “If you wanted to buy a house, you had to come into the bank yourself and we gave you a loan that you had to repay over 20 years. Now, in an ecosystem model, we can manage the entire home ownership experience for you,” he adds.
Standard Bank is starting to do this through its
new LookSee platform, which gives clients access to ancillary services and information related to home ownership. “Right now, a great example of how this has proved beneficial for clients in South Africa is that they are able to manage their independent power supply, including the installation and maintenance of solar panels and inverters,” Arno says. “We have vetted the suppliers and we fund the technology so you can manage the very big upfront costs that come with these installations.”
Standard Bank can also connect small businesses with other big corporates to facilitate growth opportunities through this ecosystem model. “A real example is that we have helped various spaza shop traders connect to Coca-Cola so they can sell more out of their stores. We ensure that the merchandise is delivered and funded and we help manage that relationship.”
On the back of this ecosystem model, the bank announced a partnership strategy and has been inundated with people approaching them for new opportunities. “Pick n Pay is a good example of a partner who wants to be able to offer financial products in their stores, but they don’t want a banking licence. We also have critical partnerships with Microsoft and Amazon Web Services [AWS].” he explains.
The Liberty transaction is another point of pride for Arno, who led the R17 billion transaction. “It was an immensely complicated deal, historically managed through a complex bancassurance agreement, and we couldn’t continue owning the majority but living separately,” he says. “We are now the third biggest asset manager in Africa, and it has really completed our client offering as a financial services provider.”
Arno explains that through these partnerships and ecosystems, and the many more that are to come, the bank has created a more profitable and more sustainable business model.
Retaining and attracting skills is what keeps Arno awake at the moment, as he says that it’s one of the most important parts of his job as a CFVO. “Ultimately, value gets delivered through the knowledge people bring to the organisation and the passion and energy they have. If you don’t have that, you won’t be able to deliver change.”
The Covid-19 pandemic allowed people to focus more on the things they love, including where and how they go to work, which has changed employer/employee relationships forever. “People want to work for organisations that share their passions, are progressive and forward-looking, and are making a difference in the world we live in today,” he says. “They want to know
“I fundamentally believe that everyone has immense value to bring, and it is my job to unlock that. That’s what true leadership is.”
that they are part of something bigger.”
Arno explains that, in order to enable the human component of your organisation and unleash the creativity of the people, leaders need to empower their teams in agile ways.
“Our teams need the right tools to deliver on the new business models we’ve put in place, including cloud computing, machine learning and tech capabilities.”
With big transformation comes big uncertainty, however, and it’s up to leaders to help their people navigate the culture shift that comes with it. “As a leader, inspiring and empowering people is incredibly important.”
Arno also sits on Standard Bank’s group social and ethics committee, which is where all the important conversations around transformation take place. “Three years ago, empathy and mental health were much less important topics than they are now. Covid-19 has taught people how to care for each other again and how to manage stress in order to remain resilient,” he says.
Arno has implemented various mental health resilience building interventions with his finance team, including taking the time to check in on and listen to everyone at the start of a meeting – something they never did before the pandemic.
He explains that the bank recognises that everyone has been through a lot in the last two years, and provides a special counselling service with a professional psychiatrist, free of charge. “It’s entirely confidential, and it doesn’t have to be restricted to work-related issues.”
Arno’s leadership style, like the bank’s, is an empowering and empathetic one. “I fundamentally believe that everyone has immense value to bring, and it is my job to unlock that. That’s what true leadership is.”
He explains that he tries to bring the best out of everyone around him, and likes to be seen as approachable, open to new ideas, supportive and empathetic towards people.
“I am back full-time in the office because I want to see people,” he admits, adding that collaboration is immensely important for him, along with continuous learning and development.
Arno believes that it’s a leader’s job to support their teams through training and career opportunities. “It’s important to allow people to have different growth opportunities so they can follow their passions. Just because you studied to be an accountant, doesn’t mean you’re restricted to only being that. You have to continue to upskill yourself in order to remain relevant and to understand the environment you’re doing business in,” he says.
Arno refers to how he started his engineering career as a seismologist, and then decided to go into banking 10 years later. “It was a tough wake up call. You think you can transfer some of the mathematical skills, but it’s actually quite a big leap.”
Now he’s been in the banking industry for 20 years, and he couldn’t be happier! “As you continue to reinvent yourself, you have to have the courage to just leap into something you are passionate about, even if it means going back to university and learning new things.”
With an increased focus on sustainability, the world is looking towards big banks to lead the charge in making a difference. “We’ve implemented a new policy to be net carbon neutral in all our financing activities by 2050. That means, if we’ve extended an auto loan, we have to offset the impact of its emissions in some other way, or
stop financing that car by 2050,” Arno says. Despite the pressure, for Standard Bank it’s important that this transition is just.
Arno explains that the African continent contributes only three to four percent of greenhouse gases globally, and is one of the most energy poor continents in the world. The challenge is to increase access to energy across the continent to drive growth. “It’s easy for the Scandinavians to generate up to 90 percent of its power through sustainable fuels and green energy, and for them to stop supporting non-sustainable, non-green energy production, for example. But in Africa, the reality is a bit more nuanced where, for example, funding a brown energy project may be a net positive for growth and employment in the medium term.”
The amount of brown energy (oil and gas related) Standard Bank currently finances is less than five percent of its portfolio. “We are participating in the financing of the Mozambique gas fields, for example, which requires trade-off considerations,” Arno says. “These gas fields transform the Mozambique economy and will uplift so many people who have previously struggled economically.”
Because of this, trade-off decisions have to be made on a case by case basis, he adds, depending on how the bank is going to continue to participate in the economic upliftment of the continent, while doing it in an as-green-as-possible way.
“We now need to think very carefully about how we finance it without damaging the economies,” Arno adds. “If you don’t finance some of these activities, you could damage the economy by taking away power.”
Standard Bank has operated in some African countries north of South Africa for more than 100 years, generating more than 35 percent of the bank’s revenue. Some of its biggest successes are countries like Uganda, where it has a large share of the market, Nigeria, where it’s the leading corporate and investment bank in the country, and Angola, where it has a very high ROE.
Arno explains that the finance function at the bank has a matrix model that works exceptionally well when it comes to reporting their African activities. “We have a domain reporting line, which comes directly to me via the country’s CFVO. This is where the expertise and the centre of excellence is. We also have a day-to-day reporting line, which is between the local CFVO business partner and the CEO.”
There is an active treasury component in each of the countries’ finance teams. “There has to be! The balance sheets are volatile, more than in South Africa. You need
to be nimble in managing foreign and local currency balance sheets. We have central oversight from the group on this, around liquidity, FX, interest rate, hedging strategies, dividend flows.”
It is for his contribution in some of these successes that Arno was also awarded the Moving into Africa Award at the 2022 CFO Awards.
“There’s been a lot of reform in Africa, and we find often the more complex and nuanced the environment is, the more it suits our business,” Arno says, explaining that it’s because of Standard Bank’s on-the-ground presence and subsequent expertise in these countries that they are able to understand their clients and market flows better.
“We understand how Africa is connected to the rest of the world, what the trade flows across Africa look like, the challenges they are facing, as well as the technology and digital penetration in each country,” he adds. “We have a unique proposition, and that’s our core competitive advantage in those markets.”
Standard Bank is looking to expand its investment in Africa even further, with both organic and acquisitive growth.
One of the things keeping Arno up at night is how much the bank needs to invest in future-ready initiatives versus what is currently working. “It’s one of the most careful considerations you have as a CFVO, and one of the biggest responsibilities,” he explains.
Because of this, he has come up with the mantra “defend and grow”, which means defending the bank’s current franchise against competitors, but also growing into this new ecosystem business they’ve been working on.
We have an innovation tournament, where you have thousands of ideas competing, but only the best ideas move onto the next round. We then choose the top three or five brilliant ideas and drive those forward.
Arno explains that, in all this complexity of transforming the organisation in such a fast-moving world, what has helped most is distilling everything down to the basics. “Part of our jobs as leaders is to take a complex environment, simplify it and distribute it into the core basic needs of our people and our clients.”
He adds that you also have to be crystal clear on the direction you’re going in, who’s accountable and who delivers. “With 55,000 people across 40 countries, when you embark on a transformation like this, you really have to be very clear on what needs to be focused on and by who,” Arno concludes. l
CFO South Africa, in partnership with Workday, brought some of the country’s leading finance professionals together around the dinner table to discuss the qualities they will need as they lead their organisations into the future. Their ability to learn, teach and collaborate came under the spotlight.
Positivity was in the summer air as some of South Africa’s top CFOs gathered around the dinner table at the Saxon in Johannesburg on 26 October to enjoy a delectable four-star meal. The evening, which was hosted in partnership with Workday, prompted an existential question for all South Africans: Where has our spirit of Ubuntu gone?
“Our spirit of Ubuntu has always been our most exportable quality,” they said. “But negativity is creeping into our conversations and we’re losing our spirit of positivity and sense of brotherhood.”
Guests agreed that the positive nature of South Africans has been dwindling over the last 10 years as the country faces macro-economic, political, unemployment, poverty and power issues, which have only been exacerbated by Covid-19.
“The last three years have brought South Africans very close to their breaking point, and this recent terrorist warning is threatening to push the country over the edge,” one guest said.
“South Africans have always been known worldwide for their resilience, but we’re losing our momentum,” another CFO echoed. “The last few years have made people scared, and you can’t have a growth mindset if you’re afraid.”
The only way to change this negative narrative is to change the mindset of the country’s citizens, guests explained. “South Africans have this expectation that someone else will do it, but we can’t rely on the government or international investors to solve our problems anymore.”
They all agreed that it’s time for the private sector, and leaders like themselves, to step up and come together to encourage a new mindset of ownership. “We have to roll up our sleeves and do tangible things to provide new hope, even if it affects our bottom lines.”
The CFOs suggested that the change should start with partnerships and education. “It’s important to enter into partnerships with experts who are able to teach people the skills they need to solve their own problems on a sustainable basis.”
Guests having dinner at Tryn restaurant in Cape Town on 7 December acknowledged that there will be new challenges in 2023, but that these would not define the CFO role. “It’s how you navigate the challenges, and how you support your team during the hard times that will define you as a leader.”
They agreed that the time for balancing books and being a strategy leader was over, and that it was time for finance leaders to start making a difference. “As a CFO, the impact you can have on someone is unmeasurable, and that impact needs to be good.”
The CFOs emphasised how important it was for finance leaders to be authentic and caring. “You need to treat everyone the same, whether they’re a factory worker or in the C-suite. You need to be able to extract performance from teams through culture instead of fear.”
They further explained that being able to engage with people and inspire them is one of the rarest skills to possess, but also the most valuable. “You have to get down
and dirty with the customers and your teams in order to get the best out of them.”
To inspire your team, you have to be an enabler, guests shared. They shared thoughts about disruptive entrepreneur Elon Musk, and agreed that despite the complexities around his Twitter takeover, it's important to be inspired by the "mad scientists” who have big ambitions for the future. “The roles and responsibilities we have now won’t exist in the future. You need to be forward-thinking and invest in the talent that will take you there.”
They all said that CFOs need to embrace the youth who are moving into the workforce. “They will be the ones that are open to technological changes and developments, because they will be the ones creating and driving those technologies.”
One guest suggested that CFOs need to start looking at gamers, who are able to see patterns and apply their thinking to a bigger picture.
THOSE ATTENDING THE DINNER AT THE SAXON WERE:
• Abigail Mukhuba, FD at Sanlam
• Aneshree Naidoo, CFO at Webber Wentzel
• Caylynne Fourie, managing editor at CFO South Africa
• CJ Kujenga, group CFO and interim CEO at Ascendis Health
• Deepa Sita, CFO at Tiger Brands
• Georgina Guedes, executive community director at CFO South Africa
• Kiv Moodley, country managing director at Workday South Africa
• Leslie Marie, regional financial lead at Workday South Africa
• Martin van der Walt, group CFO at Sibanye Gold
• Risto Ketola, group FD at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings
• Simon Adams, CFO at Nando’s
• Siya Mnyanda, senior account executive of enterprise at Workday South Africa
THOSE ATTENDING THE DINNER AT TRYN WERE:
• Burtie September, CFO at Curro Holdings
• Caylynne Fourie, managing editor at CFO South Africa
• Cobus Loubser, CEO at Curro Holdings
• Graham Fehrsen, founder of NOVO (former CFO South Africa MD)
• Jurgens Myburgh, CFO at Mediclinic
• Laila Razack, CFO at Equites Property Fund
• Leslie Marie, regional financial lead at Workday
• Michael Fleming, CFO at Clicks Group
• Rob Williamson, business development leader at Workday
“We also need to start looking into blockchain and the metaverse, as there are already workers who are looking to be paid in crypto currencies and want to work in the metaverse,” another said.
“You have to allocate capital to new innovations and opportunities, even if they seem impossible. Ten years ago, we wouldn’t have believed that we could create a civilisation on Mars. But with the technological advancements happening today, combined with forward-thinking skills, it seems possible.”
However, they agreed the CFO still has a role to play in coaching the youth through these changes by leveraging the experience and wisdom they’ve gathered over the years.
In fact, both dinners concluded that the most important qualities CFOs need to display in the new year will be their ability to learn, teach and collaborate. “You need to have a level of maturity to share and collaborate, not just with new partners, but with competitors too, in order to help the economy grow.” l
We asked some of the CFO South Africa community’s techsavvy CFOs what they thought about ChatGPT, which has already taken over the internet and is expected to take over the world of work. And while we aren’t quite there yet, these CFOs believe the benefits this new generative AI will present business with, will be a game changer.
Chat GPT has brought the possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) into the public arena and fired up the imagination of the world in doing so. It is an exciting proposition of the potential of what AI may be able to do in the future. It is largely focussed on word/ natural language content, however, if you could take this and overlay it and large structured data fields the opportunities and efficiencies for business could be significant.
I am always excited for new technology, and I believe that ChatGPT needs to become part of every organisation’s digitalisation strategy. It can enhance customer experience, especially for e-commerce businesses. It will allow businesses to handle multiple customer requests simultaneously, making it more efficient and allowing companies to be available to customers 24/7.
Chatbots can be customised to provide personalised responses to customers based on their specific needs and preferences, which will help businesses build stronger relationships with their clients and make them feel valued.
It can also be used to free up time for service staff, with its ability to handle routine inquiries and requests allowing them to solve more complex and high-priority tasks.
However, for ChatGPT to be successful, we need to be clear about where we want to use it and how. Secondly, is to get people familiar with the technology and to give them comfort that where tasks are affected, employees will be reskilled. Once they see the benefit and become familiar with their own new skills and tasks, I believe you will gain momentum. This will lead to better adoption within other areas of your business.
We recognise the need for AI, to an extent, in adding a dimension to the customer experience a while ago, and last year we launched OPTIBOT, which services administrative queries from students on our online and homeschool platforms.
There is definitely a need for similar services, but the trick is to ensure that you understand your customers' needs and consistently update the information you programme the AI tool with.
This also needs to be part of the customer experience and should complement existing processes. Simplicity remains key and the aim should never be to replace the human touch.
The technology’s natural language understanding and ability to quickly generate content has made it one of the fastest adopted technologies ever. It offers businesses the possibility of doing some of their manual and repetitive tasks much faster, saving costs and improving efficiencies. But ChatGPT is only one of a vast pool of AI resources available, and specialist AI models and programmes should be used for specialist tasks and industries.
ChatGPT can offer short-cuts, especially in the areas of large text analysis, data capture, idea generation, marketing and even IT development services. As an organisation we offer training and assistance in using ChatGPT most effectively, and where the tech has sparked businesses’ interest in AI in general, our data division can train Machine Learning models to deliver results and insights that cater to their specific business needs. We can also help to build and improve chatbots by linking them to Natural Language AI APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
But I must highlight that ChatGPT’s responses are based on pattern recognition. So this means that while it provides answers that sound convincing, these answers are not necessarily accurate. One can often spend more time on validating information than doing the work manually to begin with. ChatGPT is also only as good as the prompts you give it. If you don’t specify the audience, goals, or full parameters, you will get limited results.
ChatGPT is not going to replace the workforce, but as the technology improves, ChatGPT and similar tools will vastly improve the efficiency of businesses.
My interaction was positive having received clear, practical and concise responses to various questions posed. I understand there are still some concerns with the security of the system and in particular, the encryption used. My view is that ChatGPT could provide a valuable contribution to decision making but should be seen as one view and considered along with the views of a broader spectrum of business leaders. We should remember that ChatGPT will provide the same answer to all that ask the question and hence may not assist in achieving a competitive advantage.
It’s amusing how, on the one hand we encourage innovation and elevated efficiencies and on the other, we become anxious when new concepts and ideas are introduced.
The two things we need to consistently be mindful of is that the world is evolving and that digital transformation has shifted and will continue to shift the way we work and apply strategies.
We need to be cognisant that the dignity of our profession is mainly anchored by professional scepticism and can be threatened by a lack of commitment towards integrity, accountability and ethical conduct. Therefore I am of the belief that whether it is ChatGTP or any other language model which uses huge sums of data – it must stand the test of time when it comes to the integrity of the information to enable efficiencies in organisation. Therefore, it’s less about ChatGTP specifically but about solutions we can deploy that have the capability to provide us with better, faster and sustainable ways to deliver value as finance professionals.
“It [ChatGPT] has immense potential to add value,” Sean says. “There’s been a culmination of multiple technologies over a period of time that’s resulted in ChatGPT.”
However, he explains that the technology that’s been significantly underplayed amidst the fourth industrial revolution we’re in, is cloud computing. “Cloud has fundamentally changed the way we look at technology, and the way we’ve taken it a step further by using data intelligently has been a fundamental enabler for the likes of ChatGPT.”
The true strengths of ChatGPT won't be whether it can answer random questions, but how it's going to help organisations and clients interact. The next logical step would be having bespoke instances of ChatGPT in a contained environment that protects confidentiality at a customer level.
Regarding ChatGPT, I see it as a great communication tool. While applications are still a bit broad, I am excited to see which niche applications and needs it can fulfil in the near future - the true test of whether it will be considered a gimmick or a genuine asset to the world. l
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Microsoft South Africa CFO Welela Dawit considers herself fortunate to be a finance leader at a time of massive transformation on the continent. Puseletso Mompei caught up with her to find out how she is driving the agenda.
Welela Dawit was born in Ethiopia and raised in Eritrea. When she was three years old, her parents, who worked for international agencies, moved the family to the US.
“I am lucky to have the parents I have,” she says. “They travelled a lot and showed me the world very early on. That’s equipped me with the emotional intelligence that I need to be a leader as well as being adaptable and having reference points from life experiences to figure out how to navigate whatever situations I find myself in.”
Her parents planted a bug of curiosity, desire for travel and being adventurous, something which has shaped her outlook both personally and professionally. However, nothing inspires Welela more than her home continent, Africa.
Welela says she is deeply passionate about people development, particularly in Africa and this was something she was able to delve into during her tenure at General Electric (GE). An economics graduate who joined the multinational after completing her studies, and with her talent for catching the eye of the right people, Welela was put through the Financial Management Programme (FMP).
After her experience on FMP, she then joined GE’s Corporate Audit staff, a global leadership development programme that focused on financial and compliance audits and business advisory assignments for GE’s businesses. “The programme was very demanding, but it was worth it, because it gave me tremendous business acumen and helped me build both hard and soft skills that
have been useful throughout my career.”
The programme exposed her to a number of different leadership scenarios, which helped her learn how to navigate ambiguity and be accountable for the development of her team members.
She successfully completed this and other leadership development programmes.
At the age of 27, Welela was offered an opportunity to move to Kenya and became one of the youngest finance executives in the company.
Taking up her role in Kenya was a full circle moment, because it gave her the opportunity to make a mark back in her native East Africa as the financial planning and analysis leader for GE Africa. GE was focused on establishing its presence in emerging markets as the company’s solutions could help solve some of the region’s biggest infrastructure challenges.
“We knew that we needed to start building a pipeline of finance talent, who would eventually take on the roles that we needed to support our businesses,” she says. “The fastest way we could think of accelerating it was launching the FMP for Africa. It was a prime opportunity.”
As the only person in the company who had done the programme, she was responsible for establishing it. “I structured the programme, landing assignments and rotations across the region, and working with my HR team to plan how many people we would need from each country. To recruit candidates, I conducted screening assessments and interviews to determine who would teach classes.”
It was very important to her to ensure the standard they experienced was world class, as she never wanted them to feel less than because they were from Africa. “If anything, I pushed them harder, and I demanded more, because I didn’t want the world to ever see them as being less than, when in reality, I think the talent that comes out of that part of the world is 10 times more resilient, 10 times more creative, and you’re 10 times more resourceful – because you have to be. That’s just how it is. Plus we had smarts. And then we taught them and managed their programme experience so they could develop and get amazing jobs. They were extraordinary.”
More than 75 African professionals graduated from the programme during her tenure. “Many of those alumni now hold positions at firms in Africa, Europe and the United States. They’re doing very well for themselves. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished with these individuals, because it has changed their lives for the better and allowed them to reach their full potential. We’ve got good results from our investment in them, which is something I always keep in mind when thinking about my legacy.”
In early 2021, the opportunity to join Microsoft came up after 15 years at GE. Welela had been living between Kenya and Nigeria for her last 10 years, and had risen up the ranks to take up the role of CFO, GE Africa. She says, “Microsoft was an opportunity that aligned very much with my interests and aspirations. My purpose and mission are very important to me, so it was critical for me to work for a company whose values matched my own.”
She says the role has all the components of a CFO role that she loves – where it’s highly commercial, focused on growing market share and building a pipeline, revenue-focused, with an operational element to it as well.
“I like to refer to my previous CFO experience as being much more traditional and ‘analogue’,” she says. “My current role is more impactful and strategic from a financial perspective – meaning that I am personally more focused on commercial growth and operational excellence. Microsoft has digitally transformed the role of finance in the company and because of this, I have the capacity to focus on impact.
“I still have balance sheet and P&L responsibilities at the end of the day, however, I don’t have the burden of process, because of the digital technology and tools that we have in place. Instead, I get to focus on the commercial side of the business and partner with our commercial leaders – which is the fun stuff and what I truly love to do.”
She considers herself very fortunate to be a finance leader at a time of massive digital transformation. The company has a mission of sharing its own modern finance journey, which means leveraging the power of technology, AI, machine learning and the cloud to streamline processes with the aim of shortening the distance between data and action.
She explains, “This frees up time for finance professionals to do what they’re best at: analysing data to provide valuable insights and driving business impact and strategy based on those insights. For example, budgets are typically a very painful and manual process that takes enormous capacity and time. But Microsoft leverages machine learning, which allows a budget to be produced in a matter of days with a handful of people working the process, versus hundreds of finance resources spending weeks on it.”
She says when thinking about the future of finance, it’s clear that CFOs have to be digitally savvy. “So I’m spending a lot of time now talking with our customers about
this, because we actually offer these tools. As a CFO myself, I know the pain points other CFOs are dealing with. It is more effective for me to have these conversations, as I can speak to it authentically because I am able to experience the value of digital transformation. I operate differently as a CFO today versus how I used to operate – I am able to be a true business partner to our commercial leaders rather than getting bogged down by process and activity.”
She’s also quite focused on how Microsoft can make its solutions relevant to different industries. “The best way to do this is to listen to our customers and understand their needs and challenges, and from there, help them understand what is possible and chart the journey alongside them.”
When she’s not working, Welela enjoys travelling and spending time with family and friends. She also loves fashion and supporting African designers, but her biggest passion is collecting art. She describes herself as an avid art collector and is deeply passionate about collecting modern and contemporary African art.
“I find that it brings me joy, it brings me peace. It’s something beautiful to look at, and collecting art is something that over the last 10 years has become a huge, huge passion of mine. In addition to buying pieces from galleries and at auctions, I attend art fairs in many different cities across the world.” l
The country’s leading financial minds gathered at the first CFO South Africa Summit for 2023 at the Killarney Country Club in Johannesburg to gather insight and share knowledge on how to build high-performance finance teams that are future-fit.
Stanlib CFO Avashnee Ramdial said with the right technology and skill sets, finance teams can help an organisation navigate the tough operating environment it finds itself in currently. “We have to move away from past reporting and really look at analysis for the future. Organisations are looking for business partners that can tell them what is going to happen, not historians.”
For Nando’s South Africa CFO Simon Adams, the key to building a good finance team is twofold. “On one hand, the core fundamentals of finance remain, and although we want to edge towards the sexy stuff, like technology, high-performance mindset and forward-looking ambition, you still have to hire for the technical capability,”
he said, adding that he places a lot of reliance on professional bodies like SAICA and ACCA to hire for those.
However, Simon believes that partnering with the HR function when bringing in new talent is ultimately the way to getting the right skills, explaining that a psychometric test and interview can only tell you so much about a candidate, and that it’s fairly easy to get around those.
Stanlib, on the other hand, has embraced character assessment tests. “Everyone that gets hired has to do a specific assessment that tests for innovation and analytical ability around scenarios and business partnering,” Avashnee explained.
TWK Agri CFO Eddie Fivaz added that the culture of a company is the starting point of building a team ready for the next decade. “Trust should be the cornerstone of the company. Employees should feel supported by their
CFO South Africa executive community director Georgina Guedes asked the CFOs attending the Summit about unusual skills they will be looking for, and they said:
1. Business partnering
2. A solution mindset
3. Storytelling
4. Bigger picture thinking
5. Innovation
leaders, and their values must be aligned with the company’s values.”
In addition to hiring the right skills for the new job, CFOs have to ensure that their teams are enabled with the right tech. And with the massive move towards automation, this is more possible than ever.
“Historically, finance teams would sit until the early hours of the morning doing reports. Now, the Nando’s South Africa team goes home at 5pm and the bot does all of that for us. We just come in the next morning to clean up the data and pick up the areas the AI hasn’t learnt yet,” Simon explained.
Stanlib has also reaped the benefits of automation with their recent implementation of Oracle. “We’ve reduced the budgeting process from two and a half months to two weeks,” she boasted. They also implemented a reporting and forecasting framework to help them plan their scenarios more effectively.
Simon further explained that, at Nando’s, they have stopped bringing in junior skilled individuals, like clerks, and are instead filling empty vacancies with more analytical, insight-driven, business partnering and commercial skills.
Guided by the theme, High-Performance Team Revolution, the summit used various case studies from attendees to explore the post Covid-19 effect on workplace models.
Unilever VP of finance for Africa, Mikateko Tshetshe, whose organisation opted for a hybrid model, unpacked how to go about shaping a workplace for the future.
“Our staff officially needs to be at the office at least twice a week. Post Covid-19 we realised that people want flexibility, and as such we had to have structures in place to make this possible.”
Mikateko advised finance executives to have a definite structure in place for their chosen work model. “In our case the business has to provide some structure as to how that will work. We are clustered according to different business groups and functions. We are at a point where we are disciplined and diligent enough to work remotely.”
What has become apparent, said Mikateko, is that employees are now more conscious of how they use their time at the office. “Being in the office requires one to be more organised and structured. There is a proactiveness in the thinking of how to maximise the time with the team in the office.”
Hatch Africa CFO Craig Sumption said his organisation opted to have everyone back in the office full-time. He did, however, highlight that this was not an easy decision and there was a bit of trial and error prior to making a final call. “To start with, we tried to implement a hybrid process, and in the first month we could see it didn’t work [for our organisation]. A global decision was made for everyone in every function to be back at the office full-time.”
He acknowledged that there was a bit of resistance, as many were not happy, but some adjustments needed to be made to ease the transition. “After 18 months back at the office, I can safely say that the teams have all adjusted and we are forging forward seamlessly.”
Craig explained that even though theirs was not a popular decision at the time, there are benefits to being in person, such as the ability to have conversations, which are able to iron out any minor issues, without having to schedule a call or online meetings. “Being remote did to a certain extent create a culture where people were working in silos. The human element of engaging with the team was somewhat removed.”
Exploring the topic at hand further, one CFO said the remote and hybrid working models did not work in their organisation. The team work ethic of his team suffered greatly, he said, explaining that everyone started working in silos and where previously they would engage each other on a challenge, they opted to solve it themselves. “This also meant knowledge-sharing was not happening. Instead of calling or scheduling meetings, team members would just figure the issue out by themselves. It is for this reason we opted to return to the office.”
Another, whose company has decided to be completely remote, said it is possible to be efficient,
productive and sustain team culture with clear and direct communication.
Another attendee, whose company is still trying to figure out which model is best for them, said even though there was a temptation to bring everyone back to the office, it was the resistance from the staff that swayed the decision.
“To be honest, the staff representative gave practical and valid reasons as to why we should adopt a more hybrid model. As much as it is beneficial to the workers, it is having an effect on production. What we have seen is that senior and middle management seem to be more diligent whereas junior staff are battling on that front.” It is all a work in progress, he said, but hopes to find a solution sooner rather than later.
“There is no one-size-fits-all. What is important is that there is clear and definitive messaging around the model you choose,” Mikateko assured everyone.
Eddie said the key to a successful team is its leader. “But it’s not about the title. It’s about the three i’s that we as leaders are responsible for: impact, influence and inspiration.”
EY partner Sean Berrington shared how his recent move
from CFO of Standard Bank’s group engineering division to a passion-led technology leader helped him evolve into a leader of the future.
Sean, who says he has always had a passion for technology developments, said he saw the value of being a technology leader with a finance background appealing. “Over the years at Standard Bank I had developed a passion for tech, and I decided that I would follow my heart. My past experience as a CFO brings different values and conversations to my current role.”
Addressing the audience of finance executives, Sean said technology, and the ability to evaluate its customer value proposition, is now an integral part of any executive role. “As technology shifts, changes and scales, we need to assess what we need to adopt and scale in our businesses.”
SAP Africa CFO Sandi de Souza, who’s journey panned out differently, said she believes a balance between theoretical teachings and practical learning in the workplace is what hones leaders. “Embarking on my MBA after a few years in corporate opened my eyes to leadership styles. The theory and content learnt during the modules was great, but the biggest takeaway [for me] was a change in personal development and thought process. The balance between the two allows one to approach issues differently.”
Sandi encouraged attendees to not shy away from learning and to be adaptive.l
Dirk Viljoen not only enforces transformation and empowerment at Hollard Group as the CFO, but takes this social responsibility home with him. Associate editor Ronda Naidu caught up with the 2022 CFO Awards winner to find out what makes him an authentic leader.
Hollard Group CFO and 2022 CFO Awards Transformation and Empowerment winner Dirk Viljoen makes no bones about the fact that he is fully invested in South Africa – both professionally and personally.
“My family and I are invested and my kids are here. If we fail to get the social accord right, the future will be grim, and that is not a situation that I would like to cite,” he explains.
It is this cohesive thinking and willingness to place himself and his heritage in the spotlight that sets Dirk apart from a number of his peers.
“We started at the leadership level and had some dedicated meetings only on the topic of transformation and empowerment and even what our leadership looks like. It’s very difficult to promote transformation if everyone positioning it is white and Afrikaans like me,” he explained.
The seasoned finance executive took this one step further and also went public with his own transformation and empowerment journey.
“In a public recording I spoke about my own background as an Afrikaans South African. It was optional for group executive members to participate in his employee communication campaign. I believe it is important to be authentic when we look at where we come from as South Africans and acknowledge what went wrong and also acknowledge each other,” he says.
The recording was well received as employees appreciated the genuine feedback from an executive member, although Dirk openly admits that he did have to field some lighthearted teasing about his on-screen presence.
He adds, “I believe in the strength of inclusivity and that means I have a voice; I am in the minority and I still have a voice. Diversity includes different personalities too. We underwent a leadership journey where specific personality traits were also shared to understand how other people think. This is more to understand the diversity of thought, a diversity that goes further than race.”
Dirk comfortably notes that it is “quite easy to get caught in your own concepts” and is consciously vocal about transformation and empowerment in the organisation.
“I show how I live it. It’s one thing to advocate for inclusivity, but if your team doesn’t show it, then it doesn’t mean anything. In my context I work with professionals, most of whom have tertiary qualifications. So, the way of thinking could be similar in terms of experience at home and access to resources,” he says.
Dirk adds, “A lot of what we have tried to do in the transformation and empowerment space is to address stereotypes and unconscious bias.”
The finance leadership team is certainly multi-cultural and diverse, comprising male and female, black and white, African, Indian, English, Afrikaans and Japanese. Dirk and his team are also making sustainable inroads outside the business, focusing on transformation in the procurement space as well.
“Financial institutions have the opportunity to use assets to change the landscape of business. The short-term insurance industry broker universe is still very white. That’s an important procurement factor for products to Hollard,” he explains. This area talks directly to procurement and supplier empowerment. “We’re making a big impact in the investment space. Procurement is very important for us, and we’ve restructured it in a way that 50 percent of our commission will go to black-owned brokers,” he says.
This is particularly noteworthy as there is a dearth of black brokers in the short-term insurance space and banks are
“It is critical for us to show up, especially if we say we want to include people. It would have been remiss of me to ask people to share their stories if I was not willing to give mine,” Dirk notes.
reluctant to fund brokerages. “One of our objectives is to develop that market, so we’ve funded them through equity or loans. We currently have made significant progress in this area,” Dirk explains.
As result, Hollard has seen good results in this space. “We are empowering them so ownership can change. We have made good progress there. For example, with panel beaters we have seen real transformation. It’s not only about ‘here’s some money and get on with it’, we also support the owners to run their businesses and grow thereafter,” he says.
Dirk notes that models like these are important tools that can have a serious transformative impact on the South African market.
Another area of transformation focus is job creation, with Harambee being a stellar example of a successful youth employment accelerator.
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator started as a Hollard-funded initiative in 2011 with the goal of securing employment for one million unemployed youth. Today, there are several large corporates supporting this initiative, and
this is an example of Hollard’s approach of being a catalyst for positive change.
“In collaboration with our shareholders, we started by identifying the gap between school leavers and job seekers and realised that they didn’t know how to engage with the formal sector. Through Harambee, we were able to create a network of employers and have put the youth in touch with them. Now the government is also involved,” he says.
Dirk believes that support for education is also a key contributor to the social accord. “If somebody has the opportunity to study then that is enough. In terms of the really disadvantaged, it’s about support for the education process and by default support for the community,” he says.
Dirk concludes, “We in the finance community have lots of opportunity to make a difference – and that extends beyond our work lives. We are the custodians of business assets.”
The fact that transformation has now become a company-wide objective, with finance keeping an eye on the metrics, is testament to Dirk’s hard work and dedication to keeping empowerment at the top of the company agenda. l
"I believe it is important to be authentic and acknolwedge what went wrong."
CFO
ByCFO Tony Tiscornia considers his biggest achievement at Coupa Software to be able to look back on where he and the company were 10 years ago (with 100 staff) and then contrast that with where they are now (3,500 people). This achievement encompasses milestones, growth, the number of customers who are part of its community now, and the value-add of the system – especially in terms of savings.
“If you assume that maybe five to 10 percent of every dollar that runs through the system is more efficient and is a saving, that’s hundreds of billions of dollars that we’ve helped customers save, which is the goal,” says Tony.
At Coupa, he gets to interact with clients, which he really enjoys. At the same time, there’s also on-the-job training. The management style is not to be a manager, but rather play in a support role, and staff are encouraged to learn and develop themselves.
Tony has had progressive roles at the company, moving from controller through to VP of finance, principal accounting officer, and then chief accounting officer before taking up his current role in June 2021. “The opportunity has been great for me from a career perspective. I love the business, I love the people: it’s just a great place to be,” he says.
His decision to join the company from Soraa was driven by his interest in technology and the then-growing area of cloud and software-as-a-service, and was thanks to an introduction from a former colleague. “I felt cloud computing and cloud software were really here to stay for the long term, probably for the rest of my career. I wanted to try to find an industry
with a big opportunity, something that was really untapped. Something that would drive positive change for customers, and that would drive a lot of value over the long-term.”
Coupa Software is a San Francisco-based global technology platform for business spend management. Tony explains that Coupa has a huge opportunity to penetrate more of the market, as its exposure to large and mid-sized companies is still very low. Plus, most companies are using outdated, manual systems that don’t allow them to analyse and manage their spending.
“Cumulatively, we’ve had almost $4 trillion (roughly R72 trillion) of transactions that have run through the core of our platform. We can take that data, anonymise it, aggregate and share benchmarks on price on supplier quality, to really help companies use those insights to optimise spending.”
Part of Coupa’s success is because it helps manage costs – which is especially pertinent in this era of high inflation – and increases a company’s profitability. It gives clients complete visibility and control over all money that they’re spending or investing. At the same time, it means that there is no need for many enterprise resource planning systems as Coupa’s systems consolidate all the information into one space, giving clients complete control over their data.
The data element and the ability to analyse information are what gives Coupa an edge. “The nice thing about Coupa data is that it presents itself in a very consumable way. All the data is aggregated and presented in the dashboard in a way that's easily consumable. The system will show you areas where you can negotiate a better cost, or run a sourcing event, which is like a reverse auction,” says Tony.
The system is also customisable, which makes it easy to integrate. “We architected the system to be like an Amazon look and feel. It’s very easy to use and very powerful,” he says.
At the same time, Coupa’s payment system is based on an approach of driving value for customers. “We’re very results oriented: we’re focused on the success of the customer, and as quickly as possible,” Tony adds.
You can find out more about the great work Coupa is doing by visiting www.coupa.com. l
“The nice thing about Coupa data is that it presents itself in a very consumable way. All the data is aggregated and presented in the dashboard in a way that's easily consumable. ”
Grant Hardy is no stranger to putting in hard work and reaping the rewards. An avid marathon runner, he is used to taking many small steps in order to reach his end goal. This is no different when it comes to his work as Capitec's CFO.
Don’t be surprised if you see Capitec’s new CFO, Grant Hardy, running through the streets of the Western Cape. In fact, you might even see the Capitec running club with him, taking on their annual three-marathons-in-three-days challenge.
Over the years, Grant has been taking on additional responsibilities that would ultimately see him succeed André du Plessis. Now in the CFO role, he explains that he is a firm believer in people being capable of far more than they think.
“Last year, I asked a friend of mine who had run seven marathons in seven consecutive days across seven countries, to come and talk to the finance team about setting big goals and daring to dream,” Grant explains.
“We decided that we would set our own goal to run three marathons in three days.”
That year, the Capitec running club ran from their offices in Stellenbosch to Franschhoek, over Helshoogte, on the first day. The second day, they ran from Capitec’s branch in Caledon to their branch in Hermanus, through the Hemel-en-Aarde valley. And on the third day, they did the full Cape Town marathon.
This year, the team ran three marathons in three days again. Rather than running all three days, Grant ran part of the way and for the rest supported the team, with his family, alongside the road.
“It’s nice to be part of a team where people are doing things that push them out of their comfort zones, and you can see the sense of achievement they get from it,” Grant says, explaining that as a result, people have much more confidence in their ability to do things at work too.
By Caylynne Fourie
He adds that, if you compare running to life, there are always going to be times where it’s tough and you think you can’t do it anymore, but as long as you are resilient and have the persistence to push through, you can always reach your goals. “You have to have that self-belief that no matter how big the challenge is, you and your team can get through it.”
Grant further explains that, similar to when the running club takes to the streets, his success is dependent on the support of the people around him. Because of this, it’s important for him to create an environment where everyone can unlock their full potential.
It’s exactly this support that has helped him navigate the challenges of taking on the new role over the last five months. “I’m enjoying the challenge and making a difference in the lives of our clients.”
Grant completed his articles with Deloitte in Johannesburg and then spent eight years working in financial services in London. He returned to South Africa in 2015 and has been with Capitec since October 2015. In this time, he has worked across all the finance functions of the company and in 2018, he filled a development seat on the executive committee. “I’m someone who loves to learn, and since joining Capitec I made it a priority to learn everything I could about our business and operating environment.”
He explains that people often don’t want to do tasks they are given because they think the tasks are menial, but if you see the value and opportunity in those tasks, it makes it worthwhile. “So in all the roles I’ve served in, I’ve focused on learning as much as I can.”
“It’s nice to be part of a team where people are doing things that push them out of their comfort zones, and you can see the sense of achievement they get from it.”
“André and I went on a long journey together where I was given more responsibilities incrementally,” he says, adding that because of this, he felt prepared enough to take on the challenge of being CFO.
It takes many small steps to run a marathon Grant is passionate about the work Capitec is doing to make a difference in the lives of their clients. He has a unique way of getting buy-in from the teams he works with when they are chasing big dreams and goals: by using real-life examples of people achieving and doing amazing things. “You do not need to be the most talented person,” he says. “In most cases, hard work and perseverance outweigh talent.”
One of the things he’s trying to do as the bank’s new CFO, is to try and remind people how important the small things are. “A lot of people think in order to have big success you have to do big things, but it’s actually doing lots of small things right consistently over long periods that will give you the competitive advantage. If you add all the small things together, you start to see a material difference,” Grant explains.
“In life there are many examples where technology has improved performance. In 1936 Jesse Owens held the world record in the 100 metres with a time of 10.2 seconds. The record is currently held by Usain Bolt in a time of 9.58 seconds. The improvement in this time is not because humans are getting faster but rather because of technology. Usain Bolt started by propelling himself out of starting blocks down a running track specifically designed for speed. Whereas Jesse Owens ran on a track made from cinders, a more resistant surface, and rather than using starting blocks he had to dig holes in the cinders from which to start. If Jesse Owens had been running on the same track using starting blocks, he would have been within one stride of Bolt. The same is true for business. If you can fully understand the impact technologies can have on your business, it’ll help you unlock a lot of value.”
Grant is continuously looking at the systems Capitec uses to make sure the business understands the capabilities of these systems and can unlock the full value these technologies can provide. “It’s so easy to say that we’ve implemented a system and now our work is done, but implementation is only one part of reaching
the goal. The rest of it is understanding the full value it can add and ensuring that you unlock this value.”
At Capitec, it is “client first”, Grant explains. “The organisation is built on four core fundamentals: simplicity, personal service, affordability, and accessibility. These are truisms. No matter how much the business changes, we come back to these fundamentals, and they act as the true north to guide our decisions.”
The bank recently launched Capitec Connect, its own mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). “When looking at pricing the new product, we ultimately brought the decision back to the bank’s fundamentals and put the clients first.” says Grant. “We decided to keep the pricing consistent: whether a client is buying a MB or a GB of data, they pay the same rate per MB. We’ve also decided not to let clients’ data expire. If a client buys data, why should it expire?”
Capitec is launching its business bank in 2023 after its acquisition of Mercantile in 2018. “We’re putting a lot of hard work into that, and it’s something we’re really excited about,” he says. “We want to empower small and medium business owners, which is the heart of growing the economy in South Africa, and again comes back to those fundamentals.”
“Going forward it is important that we continue to focus on challenging conventional business norms,” Grant explains. “We do this by removing all unnecessary complexity and making everything simple for our clients, with products and services that are intuitive and can be used by anyone.”
Grant and his wife Katherine try to spend as much time as possible with their two daughters (aged four and six). “We really focus on trying to make sure we spend quality time outdoors with our girls. My wife is very active and participates in triathlons. She recently competed in the Ironman world championships and next year will be competing in the half Ironman world championships. As a family we are extremely proud of her and are often at races supporting her. It’s great for our daughters to be exposed to this, as it really shows them if you are willing to work hard for something you can achieve it.” l
“You do not need to be the most talented person. In most cases, hard work and perseverance outweigh talent.”
Hundreds of finance professionals from across Africa gathered at the Sandton Convention centre on 20 October for the first live Finance Indaba in the two years since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. During her keynote address, the Auditor-General of South Africa Tsakani Maluleke encouraged finance leaders to do and be better. As the day unfolded, the country’s top CFOs, CEOs and industry experts revealed the 11 skills every finance professional needs to meet this call.
Simply sharing the numbers and telling the story behind them doesn’t cut it anymore. Now, CFOs also need to be able to sell the stories they’re telling with numbers. “CFOs have a helicopter view of what’s happening in business. As such, we need reeducation around the role and how we become a more active voice in the boardroom,” said Mohammed Shaikh, partner in digital controllership and finance transformation at Deloitte.
Speaking about how the brand tried to keep its head above water in the last two years, Tiger Brands group CFO Deepa Sita said they looked at things that they were able to control like cost management and elimination of waste in production. She encouraged other CFOs to adopt revenue growth management practices to be resilient.
For Liberty Africa Insurance, resilience included expanding its offering by creating more diverse and innovative products for the country. “We looked at how we can be innovative and change our cost structure, and we also spent a lot of time on acquisition opportunities,” said CFO Ravi Singh.
Kumba Iron Ore CFO Bothwell Mazarura shared the three new strategies he implemented to ensure that the business could survive the tough times. “The first one was operational efficiency, how efficiently you move waste is key in terms of containing costs. The second one is absolute costs. So this is about looking across the entire value chain, and seeing how you can optimise costs. Lastly, compete in a global market.”
The Auditor-General of South Africa, and 2021 CFO of the Year, Bongi Ngoma urged CFOs to always choose ethics over any pressure from government, politics or executives. "When you are a leader, you need to be able to push back when you are asked to do anything that doesn't resonate with your ethics and values,” she said. “Push back. Let ethics be your licence to trade.”
Averen Deonanan of Flight Centre Travel Group SA added that leaders must be self-aware of both strengths and weaknesses. He urged financial leaders to lead with empathy and show vulnerability to their team members. “Leaders need to show compassion, and lead with both the heart and the mind, because your team is going through whatever you are also going through,” he said, adding that leaders must be accessible, and build connections.
For Brad Wentzel, CFO at Frey’s Food Brands, improving yourself through attaining knowledge puts a leader in a positive position. “You need to read and improve yourself in your field, get as much information and learn more about yourself, because if you don’t invest in yourself, you will have no direction,” he said.
“Consequences of corruption threaten the functioning of the market economy, hindering much-needed capital investment into companies,” said Eddie Fivaz, FD of TWK Agriculture. “This investment decline is devastating to both business and the country as a whole.”
Regardless of the sector in which we work, said BDO business restructuring COO Buhle Hanise (former BAIC SA CFO), we need to go back to basics. “We must be ethical, genuine and authentic in all we do, always asking what the price of making a quick buck really is.”
This is especially true of those who work in the finance industry and can be susceptible to fraudulent activity. “The CA profession is still credible, yet a few bad apples bring it into disrepute. We can’t make decisions based on bad apples: this is still a very lucrative profession and there is a future. If you don’t want to be ethical, don’t join the profession,” she added.
Yusuf Bodiat, CFO of the Federated Employers Mutual Assurance Company (FEM), agreed, but stressed the broader challenges at play. “If society consistently sees that there are no consequences for corruption, they slowly become desensitised to such behaviour, sometimes following suit.”
“We need to instil ethical behaviour by building trust and developing an ethical culture,” suggested Eddie.
Abdullah Verachia, CEO of The Strategists, stressed the need to create a space for young people to grow.
It’s all about putting yourself out there and trying again if you’re unsuccessful, said panellist Etienne le Roux, CFO of Metropolitan Retail, speaking about how to climb the corporate ladder at an early age. Indeed, Etienne was rejected when he first applied for his current role. “I had to deal with that setback and disappointment,” he said, “but then a year later the opportunity became available again and I was successful.”
Part of learning also means saying yes to every opportunity, added Julian Palliam, president and CEO of phosphates and phosphoric acid producer, Foskor. Initially unsure of where he wanted his career path to lead, Julian grabbed each chance that came along, working all around the world and even training in Switzerland. “As a young CFO, having the ability to say yes, to go into uncertainty and to know you can make a difference is key,” he said.
Becoming an effective leader, no matter how old you are, is ultimately about understanding and believing in yourself. “It’s important to understand what you’re good at and to be the best at that,” said Julian. Then hire people who are good at things that may not be your area of expertise. “Own who you are and surround yourself with excellence,” he concluded.
To become a leader, you need to understand and interact with people on all levels of the business. “To succeed, you have to understand what’s happening on the ground by interacting with the people on the floor and seeing what’s operationally driving the business,” said Bidvest Insurance CFO Alastair Petticrew. “This strategy helped me to grow as well. Every person is important to the business, and your role as a leader is to help them understand the value they add and how they can help facilitate shared success.”
Etienne also advocates getting to know customers. “Sales is everything in insurance,” he said. “You need to go and see the places we’re insuring and invest in having the client experience. Once you understand your customers’ drivers, you can simplify them for the people on the ground.”
Julian also feels that interacting with the people both within and outside the business is inherent in leadership. “Getting to know the people is integral in every bit of a company,” he said. “People talk about soft skills but they’re real skills that we need. Leadership is about knowing how you get someone to believe in you and do something they’d rather not do. Yes, you need to know the technical side and maximise profitability, but it’s also about how to get people excited about coming to work. You have to build a relationship with your team that’s rooted in trust.”
“During turmoil you’re not always sure about the right thing to do,” added Walter. “It’s okay to be uncertain. Ask for input, participation, and consultation; above all, the plan should – and does – evolve.”
For Megan, making mistakes is also part of the process, but you need to learn from them. “You will make the wrong decisions but it’s how you adapt. The worst thing to happen is if people in the organisation aren’t being transparent during a turnaround, because creating trust is critical.”
There are many reasons that companies merge with or acquire other companies – most of them are financial and include increased market share, and diversifying a product portfolio. But what is often overlooked in the process, is the union of company cultures and the effect culture will have on business going forward.
Adumo group CFO Grant Minicom said that as part of the change management process, you need to focus on the culture much earlier in the process. “Culture is not something that a finance department takes into account during an M&A but I have learnt that it is such a critical component of the business. Company culture can make or break your business and it is something you need to focus on at the outset and not react to it,” he says.
“Be careful about labelling something as culture difference when in fact there was not enough specificity. I have experience in this and after digging, found that people have their own ways of doing things and I wasn’t specific about how they should do things. You need to give one-on-one time to get people over the line. And you may find that you or your managers spend a lot of time on this, but it is important,” Walter explained.
Imraan Osman, CFO at Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum, said he has learnt that creating a new culture is a journey and not a destination. “The fundamentals of any company culture lie in transparency, candidness and empowerment. People want to feel like they are being heard and that they matter – and ultimately, that is what culture must address.”
High standards of professionalism coupled with volatile market conditions give South Africans a problem-solving mentality, a degree of unflappability, and a ‘can do’ attitude that makes us poised to conquer the world.
Sharon Naidoo, CFO for Africa at TransUnion, says that her training towards the CA(SA) designation laid a good foundation and has helped when working with international counterparts and developing strategies to enter international markets. “The CA(SA) profession is a well thought-out degree that I worked hard for. There is a reason that 21 percent of current MDs and CEOs of JSE-listed companies are CA(SA)s,” she said.
“Even in English-speaking markets there are cultural differences, which are important to be aware of yourself, and with respect to how you are seen by your counterparts," said Hatch Africa Craig Sumption. "I learnt that South Africans are seen as straightforward and direct, something I had associated with Australians, but it was useful to know, because it made me aware of the soft cultural nuances in business that you cannot take for granted."
ForAfrika CFO Nico Esterhuizen said besides technical and soft skills, what will also determine the success of any South African in a global team is being an expert in their business. “Your job is not just to know the numbers. You need to understand your business and know it inside out so you can speak about what is happening and interact with anyone across the business. Gone are the days of finance departments working in silos: our role is integrated in every aspect of the business.”
IRBA CEO Imre Nagy highlighted as standard setters, regulators and enforcers, it is important for CFOs to promote the value of audit: “Audit is integral in the finance ecosystem. Corporate failure has created a lot of mistrust in the profession, so we need to bring people together and work together to restore trust in financial reporting,” he explained.
Everyone involved needs to ensure that integrity is at the heart of the process. Imre suggested bringing awareness and education to the legitimacy of the profession and being agents of trust for a system that benefits South Africa. “Let’s lift our game and lift audit quality,” he said.
IIA SA CEO Julius Mojapelo said that all finance professionals should be determined to protect the economy and make it thrive. “You don’t work for an organisation, you work within an organisation for the economy,” he elaborated.
Fasset CFO Zakariya Alli also put forward ways to gain trust: “Ethics need to be high on the agenda and embedded in everything we do.”
For Dzunani Makgopa, head of finance and corporate services at the Independent Power Producers’ Office, the world’s energy poverty encouraged many countries to rely on burning fossil fuels, which contributed to the detrimental effects of climate change. She advised attendees to choose sustainable ways of doing business, and support the climate through recycling and mining companies to use renewable companies for their power use.
Weighing in on the effects of climate change, Sean Doherty of Transaction Capital said it was important for companies to take climate change seriously. “We acknowledge that our most impactful influence is to manage and reduce the carbon emissions in our financed minibus taxi portfolio,” he said.
“The physical effects of climate change and environmental degradation, as well as the transition to a low-carbon and more circular economy, present both financial risk and certain opportunities to the group. Furthermore, we recognise that our investment decisions and capital allocation have both social and environmental impacts,” he added. l
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Some of South Africa’s leading CFOs reveal the very real impact the country’s power crisis is having on people, business, and the economy.
CFOs around the country are concerned about ongoing rolling blackouts that, according to Eskom’s now former CEO Andre de Ruyter, will likely be around for at least the next 18 months. The grid’s failure is badly affecting productivity, especially at heavy industries, and resulting in the need for massive investments, which are eating into cash flow reserves.
During his State of the Nation address on 9 February, president Cyril Ramaphosa declared the power issue a national state of disaster and shortly thereafter appointed Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as Minister of Energy. Ramokgopa has since said that South Africans should be patient with the power crisis plaguing the country. Measures to right the situation are urgently required, as the economy is losing as much as R900 million every day when stage 6 is in effect, according to the South African Reserve Bank. Loadshedding is taking its toll in terms of lost productivity and are adding additional costs to the balance sheet, many CFOs point out.
Nedbank CFO Mike Davis says that Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address was right to focus on the energy crisis as the challenges in electricity supply remain a binding constraint to growth and job creation. “However, this has been the case for several years and, like far too many of the critical structural reforms, we have plans in place but many of them remain on the to-do list and implementation and delivery is poor. The State of Disaster may provide some additional impetus for implementation and delivery but needs to be well-managed and monitored to prevent wasteful expenditure.”
Mike says the green bank welcomes any intervention
that has the potential of stabilising our electrical supply. “Importantly though, the mandate and tasks of the Minister of Electricity will need to be clearly defined and well-coordinated in order to stabilise Eskom’s financial position and energy supply, whilst the country’s need to simultaneously transition to alternative cleaner energy supply. Simultaneously, the country needs to transition to alternative, cleaner energy generation."
In the retail sector alone, companies like Woolworths are losing as much as R30 billion a quarter, while Pick n Pay is gearing up for permanent loadshedding; installing technology such as solar panels and inverters in their stores. At the same time, customer demand is dampened because customers are concerned that frozen foods may have spoiled from inconsistent power.
Sheldon Friedericksen, Fedgroup general manager of group benefits, says that continuous loadshedding is a disastrous situation in South Africa. “The continual nature and disruption takes its toll.”
He explains that there is a direct impact on business, with many being unable to operate unless backup facilities are available at an affordable cost. “Business over the years has had to adapt to these challenges, and it remains the most important aspect of running a business to be prepared for various risks to your operating model.”
Yusuf Bodiat, CFO of The Federated Employers Mutual Assurance Company, which specialises in workmen’s compensation insurance, points out that customers will be hard hit as there will be a trickle down effect. This, he explains, is because small businesses may not be able to obtain alternate power
sources, which means they will battle to operate. “For those who are able to procure alternate power sources, whether in the form of generators or solar, the impact is still negative as they would have both cash flow and financial difficulties in ‘keeping the lights on’.
“If we unpack this part a bit further, the challenge with generators is that it requires a continuous supply of fuel (whether petrol or diesel), a resource that is relatively expensive due to its low supply and high demand. As reference, the fuel price has almost doubled in the last 10 years, priced at R12.69 in March 2013, and has increased to R22.65 by March 2023 – an increase of 78 percent, as a result of fluctuations in the price of brent crude oil, the ZAR/US$ rate and fuel taxes, to name a few. With respect to solar, as much as it may be the better longerterm solution, the initial capital outlay is too expensive for many small businesses currently.”
There’s a secondary impact, says Yusuf, in that those small companies that can’t afford to find alternative power sources to fuel their operations, will need to cut costs to keep the doors open. “For some, unfortunately, the reduction in costs may not be enough and these businesses are likely to shut-down. For those who are able to cut costs effectively, it may, likely, result in a reduction in staff and/or staff salaries.”
In terms of productivity, Implats is finding the load curtailment agreement with Eskom, “disrupts our production rhythm as we must shut down equipment where necessary, and stop certain production activities” according to CFO Meroonisha Kerber.
Yusuf adds that prices will have to go up so businesses can manage the operating costs of the current period of a lack of power. This may, consequently, result in lower sales or consumers having to spend more for goods and services.
South Africa Flight Centre Travel Group CFO Averen Deonanan agrees with Yusuf, saying that spending power for consumers, too, is under pressure. Energy is a large driver of inflation, accounting for 8.7 percent of inflation, according to Statistics South Africa.
A more serious issue is that stability of essential items such as vegetables and maize meal cannot be guaranteed, says Andri Geel, CFO of agricultural company GWK. She adds that the problem also affects prices. “As a business, we’ve done detailed work in terms of the impact, and manage these daily.”
In addition, loadshedding is also changing the world of work, with people having to go into the office where there is backup power, costing them fuel to drive to work. Companies that have implemented backup measures are seeing their operational expenditure climb, says Yusuf.
“Ultimately, individuals and households will feel the pinch as they will be receiving lower incomes as their employers/ companies are cutting costs (on the one hand), and household
expenses are increasing as prices of goods and services are increasing (on the other hand),” says Yusuf.
Retailers are also set to be hit by lower spending power, with sales during the Black Friday frenzy this year expected to be R5.4 billion lower than it would have been if South Africa was not experiencing so many days of load shedding, which has been at high levels throughout 2022, according to new research conducted by the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) on behalf of Capital Connect.
The research also finds that the motor trade is forecast to generate additional sales value of R5.9 billion over the busy promotional period, which is R2.9 billion lower than would be expected in a year with less load shedding.
Says Professor Carel van Aardt, Research Director at the BMR: “With a stagnating economy, rampant unemployment and rising inflation, the Black Friday period this year is about shopping for survival. With bleak economic prospects, we can expect to see consumers stock up on necessities rather than splashing out on luxuries for themselves or buying early Christmas presents for their loved ones.
“The hot sellers this year – apart from groceries in bulk – are likely to include gadgets and equipment to help consumers navigate the load shedding crisis. In an environment of poor consumer confidence and weak discretionary income, we can also expect to see consumers trade down from expensive brands and products to white label brands and more affordable substitutes.”
Capital Connect says that the current situation of low economic growth and high unemployment will likely lead to a relatively weak Black Friday, with growth that battles to keep pace with inflation. However, there is a demand for alternative power solutions. Year-over-year, consumer interest in inverters has increased by 56 percent, generators by 29 percent, uninterruptible power supplies by 29 percent and solar systems by 34 percent.
The retail sub-sectors that will gain the most additional revenue over the Black Friday period will be general dealers (R7.7 billion); clothing, textile, footwear and leather retailers (R5.5 billion); and furniture, appliance and equipment retailers (R1.6 billion). These
“For some, unfortunately, the reduction in costs may not be enough and these businesses are likely to shut-down. For those who are able to cut costs effectively, it may, likely, result in a reduction in staff and/or staff salaries.”
amounts could have been substantially higher without loadshedding, with general dealers alone losing out on R577 million, says Capital Connect.
In motor trade, the bigger winners include accessories (R1.2 billion), fuel (R2.3 billion), used vehicles (R1.5 billion) and new vehicles (R516 million). New and used car sales are forecast to R1.2 billion less than they could have been in the absence of load shedding, while fuel retailers will be missing out on more than R870 million in potential revenues, it adds.
Apart from the cost to the economy, there is an indirect cost, says Sheldon, in that people’s ability to cook a nutritious meal “removes the level of optimism required for growth, and the will to try something new. South Africans are also unable to relax because the lights are out, and spend too much time in traffic.
Yusuf adds that the longer term impact of loadshedding for everyone is mental wellness difficulties due to the issues everyone faces.
Meroonisha believes that several actions must be taken concurrently:
1. Fix current Eskom plant to improve availability, this is critical to ensure baseload supply to SA's mines (could reduce load shedding in the short term)
2. Expedite programmes to add new supply capacity onto the grid (to provide headroom for economic growth, especially through low carbon alternatives)
3. Update the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which was promulgated in 2018, to allow cost effective and matured technologies onto our long-term national energy plan (to give us a long-term view of how the energy challenge is to be tackled)
Sheldon states that its Impact Investing unit welcomes many of the changes that have been made to the regulatory landscape, especially the electricity provision aspects. “A regulatory landscape, and utility provider, which encourages those with capital to invest in energy provider and efficiency initiatives that can be used for the improvement of the whole ecosystem can only lead to the reduction of loadshedding to at least a once in a while occurrence.”
Funding projects within the renewable sector means that banks have to come to the party. More and more, they are funding projects that meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets as stakeholders push for companies to be more responsible when using power. Such funding deals have become part of financial institutions’ targets as they move towards no longer funding fossil fuel projects.
One such example is when Nedbank became the first local bank to launch a renewable energy bond on the green segment of the JSE, in 2019. It has subsequently funded deals such as ones for Imperial and Old Mutual, and recently announced that it aimed to about double funding for such projects to R50 billion.
And then there is an agreement between Standard Bank and British International Investment to provide solar company Scatec with R18 billion in debt to fund a battery energy storage and photovoltaic solar project in South Africa.
The project will provide total solar power capacity of 540 MW photovoltaics and 11.1 GWh of battery energy storage – delivering reliable clean power into South Africa’s grid. “This is not only about ensuring a reliable supply of power to citizens and a growing economy, but also ensuring that we meet our obligations as a nation to reduce carbon emissions by bringing more clean energy onto the grid,” says the bank.
Investec issued its first green bond in 2022, raising R1 billion under its DMTN bond programme. The issue, which was 3.8 times oversubscribed, highlighted a healthy appetite among institutional investors looking to make a positive impact in terms of their ESG commitments.
Absa, too, is providing input for green projects, having recently acted as bond advisors for a R1 billion investment in a green bond issued by Growthpoint Properties transaction and helped Growthpoint with the private placement of the bond on the JSE.
Businesses will be paying more for power if Eskom successfully wins court cases that seek to stop the implementation of 18.65 percent for the 2022/23 financial year and 12.74 percent for the next being granted. Former Optimi CFO Rajan Padayachy, currently a consultant to the CEO, says the recent tariff hikes would not necessarily be an issue if it improved the stability of the power feed. “If the price goes up and the amount of hours of load shedding reduces, the net impact may well be a cost saving as currently the cost of alternative power sources does, in the short-term, exceed the higher tariff.”
Eskom, according to an affidavit filed by its CEO (then CFO), Calib Cassim, which was summed up by Moneyweb, has basically said that tariff increases are vital when it comes to keeping the lights on.
However, should this not be the case, businesses will be affected by higher costs, which means the money to keep the lights on must be taken from R&D and growth initiatives, says Rajan.
Meroonisha sees recent tariff hikes as adding significant inflationary pressure to its input cost base, making electricity one of the fast-rising unit-cost elements. “Our cost base has already experienced significant
pressure from currency depreciation and the welldocumented global inflationary pressures due to constrained supply chains and rising input pricing. Over the past two years, these factors have led to material increases in our total cost base and negatively impacted the overall profitability of our operations.”
Sheldon, however, is optimistic, pointing out the hikes are expected and will continue and can be incorporated into most business models. However, the knock-on impact of these is a cycle of further inflation pressure, interest rate and exchange rate management, which will continue to put pressure on the consumer. He adds that tariff hikes will encourage investment in off-grid projects.
To get around the rolling blackout obstacle, companies are turning to wind and sun to provide power. This also fits in with the United Nations’ Net-Zero goal that aims to see the use of fossil fuels eliminated by 2050.
Sasol is one company shifting from dirty sources of energy, having signed three wind-power purchase deals with Enel Green Power, an Enel Group subsidiary. This deal will see Sasol incorporating 220 MW of renewable energy, which will provide 800 MW a year, at its Secunda site, where Air Liquide operates the world’s largest oxygen production facility. In total, Sasol is aiming for 900 MW of clean energy.
Hanré Rossouw, Sasol CFO, explains that the company is shifting away from fossil fuels, embracing new forms of energy, and, in August 2020, committed to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the South African operations by at least 10 percent by 2030, off a 2017 baseline. As part of the company’s energy strategy, Sasol has an ambition to lead the energy transition in South Africa. The energy transition is focussed on decarbonisation, preservation and growing new value pools.
“Our decarbonisation agenda is positioning us to deliver sustainable value into the future. We are undertaking renewables at scale while growing new value pools such as green hydrogen, ensuring competitive and sustainable returns,” he says.
In mining, too, there is a shift. Meroonisha says the platinum mining company has concluded studies for behind-the-meter solar power plants at its Marula and Rustenburg operations in South Africa. Implats has issued market inquiries for wheeling renewable energy supply to its South African operations and further market inquiries for gas-to-power and heat solutions
at its Refineries operations, to displace coal use. “These initiatives are among those aimed at achieving our 2030 goal to reduce our carbon footprint by 30 percent and further progress against our ambition of attaining carbon neutrality in 2050.”Other sectors, too, have embraced alternative power sources.
Averen says the company has been able to overcome some of the challenges with early decisions like installing invertor systems in its stores, remaining flexible in the way it works and procuring an extremely large range of diverse products to meet the needs of its customers.
The Foschini Group has proactively spent R200 million in 2023, says CFO Bongiwe Ntuli. This comes “ahead of severe load shedding”. It also installed Tesla Power walls in its high turnover stores to protect trade (about 1,000 stores out of just over 3,000 stores have the backup power). "Payback has been unbelievable and protects 60 to 70 percent of our South African revenue.”
Dawid Swart, CFO of Wetility, says the cost of installing renewable energy, such as solar and wind, has come down significantly over the past decade. “These two sources are becoming more competitive than traditional sources of energy.”
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the cost of utility-scale solar PV in South Africa has decreased by 68 percent between 2010 and 2020, while the cost of onshore wind has reduced by 54 percent during the same period.
IT company EOH is looking at covering its roofs with solar, just like Mustek did many years ago. Megan Pydigadu, Group Finance Director, adds that it is talking to its landlords about introducing clean energy at its offices to reduce its dependence on generators and manage the cost of running generators. “We are looking at putting solar on our office roofs and storing a base load through batteries. We run data centres for our customers that need up time 24 hours per day, seven days a week, so it’s critical we have multiple backup options to ensure uninterrupted power supply.”
Omnia is also moving green. CFO Stephan Serfontein says it is on track to achieve its 2027 aims, which include a 12 percent increase in renewable energy consumption, and a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions. However, the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy for companies in South Africa depends on several factors such as the type of renewable energy, the cost of renewable energy technologies, the size and location of the company or a specific project, the prevailing electricity prices as well as government policies, and legislation, Stephan adds. Companies need to look at the cost implication, over the short- and long-term, as it will
initially affect capital and cash flow, but lead to lower electricity costs, Dawid adds.
While South Africa chases its target to mitigate the effects of loadshedding while going green, there is a dire need to fill the need for skilled workers who have taken the route of studying the science, engineering, maths, and technology (STEM) fields in South Africa.
The sector urgently requires electrical engineers, operations and maintenance managers and mechanical technicians. Skills in manufacturing, assembly and installation are also needed. Since renewable energy plants are also businesses, they require skills in sales, marketing, finance, and general business operations as well, according to Enel Green Power South Africa (EGP RSA).
EOH has taken up the challenge of helping upskill, says Megan. Its finance team has established a committee called Gear UP that does volunteer work in the community. “We have set a target of 1,000 hours of volunteerism for this financial year. We want to make volunteerism an embedded part of who we are as a finance team. We have adopted a high school and children’s home in Soweto. This year we want to support the learners with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and help prepare the learners for a better future in this way.”
Students are shying away from STEM subjects because of a belief that they are difficult. Although degrees in these fields are challenging, they can be achieved, and are necessary to follow careers in renewable energy and to take up the many employment opportunities available, says EGP RSA.
A consistent electricity supply will be an issue for the foreseeable future, despite the appointment of an electricity minister, and South Africans will have to do what they do best – pull together and come up with innovative solutions. Until then, the rolling blackouts are going to strain everybody’s purses. l
“For those who are able to procure alternate power sources…the impact is still negative as they would have both cash flow and financial difficulties in ‘keeping the lights on’.”
Answering Little Eden’s call to take part in its annual CEO Wheelchair Campaign, EOH executives spent a day at the office in a wheelchair to create awareness for people with disabilities in the workspace. CFO Megan Pydigadu shares what the experience was like.
In a world that has come a far way towards inclusivity, people with impaired mobility still face numerous challenges, not all of which are obvious or apparent to those without disabilities. Many spaces are still not accessible to people with impaired mobility and, where there are accessible spaces, they may not always be well-maintained.
Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach that includes improving accessibility and fostering a more inclusive society with even fewer barriers. A helpful step towards dismantling those barriers is making them visible to more people without disabilities. One organisation doing excellent work in this regard is Little Eden.
Little Eden is a truly inspiring non-profit organisation that offers care to children and adults with profound intellectual disability. The people Little Eden takes into their care are given a lifelong home where they can feel safe, comfortable and valued.
This level of care is costly, however. So, every
Intellectual Disability Awareness Month (March), the Little Eden Society extends a challenge to company executives to spend one work day in a wheelchair. The campaign hopes to raise funds to cover some of the care costs of the non-profit, and to raise awareness of the challenges faced by those who are reliant on wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
This year, EOH CEO Stephan van Coller and myself took part in Little Eden’s sixth annual CEO Wheelchair Campaign, alongside executives from Sun International, Discovery, Barloworld Equipment, SBS Tanks, Meics Construction and Multotec.
The experience was fascinating and valuable.
I had a meeting on the first floor that day, for example, but I couldn’t join it physically with the rest of the team because there is no lift access available for wheelchairs. It’s interesting just how easy it is to feel excluded just because you can’t get to a specific meeting room. One of the members came and sat downstairs with me so I didn’t feel left out. That’s an experience that will stay with me.
I found that, when people saw me in a wheelchair, they looked at me differently. They saw the chair first, and me second. But what also became apparent was the kindness of the people who wanted to help when I was battling to manoeuvre or get around.
As an organisation EOH is trying to build an inclusive culture, and including people with disabilities is a key part of this. We want to bring awareness and see how as an organisation we can include people in wheelchairs in our workforce. It’s been important to see that although our building is meant to be wheelchair-friendly on the ground floor, that doesn’t mean that doors are comfortably wide, or that wheelchair-accessible bathrooms are actually easy to enter.
As Stephen said, “It was great to get a touch of reality and to assist the Little Eden Society and the great work they do for people who have many more obstacles in their lives.”
A disability does not make someone less worthy of respect and consideration. When society is more accepting and understanding of disabilities, it can help to promote equal opportunities for people who live with them, and reduce stigma and discrimination.
Understanding and accepting disabilities promotes social integration and reduces social isolation, building of relationships and social connections. It can help to foster a more diverse and inclusive society overall. By embracing diversity and recognising the value of different perspectives and experiences, we can build a stronger, more resilient community that benefits everyone.
The goal for this year’s Wheelchair Campaign is to raise R1.5 million for the care of Little Eden residents.
I would also like to see other CFOs get into a wheelchair for a day and commit to Little Eden. And I encourage landlords and designers to be thoughtful when designing their buildings, to ensure that people who use
wheelchairs are never excluded. Sometimes you need to experience what someone else does to begin to understand what’s most important to them and what you might have overlooked – my day in a wheelchair was a valuable reminder of that. l
A group of top CFOs gathered around the dinner table at the luxurious Saxon Hotel in Sandton on 14 September 2022, where they unpacked the qualities that will help them turn failures into opportunities.
During the dinner, hosted by CFO South Africa in partnership with Coupa, the group shared some of the things they’ve learnt about themselves in the last two years, with qualities like patience, open-mindedness and empathy coming up as they indulged in a delectable threecourse meal.
One of the guests explained that they had learnt how resilient humanity was, and how they were able to bounce back after really difficult circumstances. The rest of the table echoed this, saying that they had emerged stronger from the multiple crises they had faced during this period.
Special guest and futurist Graeme Codrington revealed that this ability to gain from disorder is “antifragility”, a term coined by author Nassim Nicholas Taleb. He explained that, when you lift weights, for example, your muscle fibres are torn. During the healing process they grow back stronger, allowing you to lift heavier weights the next time.
He then encouraged the CFOs around the table to identify the characteristics that make businesses antifragile.
The guests all agreed that, as leaders, they need to enable the organisation to experiment with new things and to use the lessons from those experiences
to become stronger.
Graeme said that this was one of the characteristics of antifragility, called “sector adaptation after individual failure”. He used Rolls-Royce's aircraft engines as an example, explaining that, when an aircraft malfunctions, the technology in their engines enables them to identify the cause of the problem and to quickly communicate it to other aircrafts that may encounter the same issue. Using this technique, they are able to prevent future malfunctions and can improve their engines.
Another guest added that organisations can’t be antifragile if they don’t allow for mistakes. “The reason why innovation is successful is because you fail fast and forward.”
However, guests revealed that the CFO is also responsible for being risk-averse in the organisation, and experiments could result in failures that end up having the opposite effect to antifragility. To avoid this, it is up to them to provide “safety nets” for their teams when experiments fail.
Inspired by this new concept, the CFOs all concluded that the time for being resilient had passed, and that organisations now have to move from survival to becoming antifragile. l
• Caylynne Fourie, CFO South Africa managing editor
• David Hamilton, Coupa regional director
• Deon Smith, Thungela Resources FD
• Georgina Guedes, CFO South Africa executive community director
• Graeme Codrington, global speaker and futurist
• Julie Tregurtha, Coupa area VP: Middle East and Africa
• Nopasika Lila, Barloworld group FD
• Polani Sokombela, Auditor-General of South Africa CFO
• Rafael Fernandes, AECI Mining CFO
• Tendani Sikhwivhilu, Bidvest Bank CFO
• Veliswa Rozani, Beyond Mobility CFO
Not everyone can climb Kilimanjaro or trek to the Everest Base Camp. But Sandi de Souza and Carla Seppings are not just everyone. They are both CFOs, and they have successfully completed these mountainous challenges! They take us with them on their journeys.
Often, great leaders are those who have shown exceptional resilience during tough times and managed to go to great lengths to ensure the success of their people and organisation. It’s no wonder then that these leaders want to test their skills in navigating complex and difficult situations on real mountains.
“A big part of my life is to travel and to embark on new adventures,” says SAP Africa CFO Sandi de Souza.
In fact, before taking on a major professional move from finance to sales earlier in her career, Sandi went on an Everest Base Camp trek in 2014. “Moving from the relative safety of a back office finance role to the cut-throat world of sales, where your salary depends on commissions, was scary. But I knew that, if I could finish the trek, I could take on the move.”
This wasn’t her first trek either, as Sandi had climbed Kilimanjaro in 2013. “Someone said to me on the trail, the pleasure of the climb increases proportionately with the distance away from the mountain. I guess that was a big part of it.”
After that first success, she wanted more, and immediately started looking for her next adventure. She ended up choosing the Everest Base Camp trek.
“It was some of the most incredible scenic places,” she explains. “I also met such incredible people, both locals and fellow hikers.”
Bidvest Automotive group CFO Carla Seppings’ “never say no” attitude is the reason why she took up the challenge to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, which she completed in 2017, with a good friend.
“My friend jokingly suggested that we climb Kilimanjaro, and I said why not? I’m keen to give anything a bash,” she says. Because of this, Carla’s very average sporting capabilities have been tested time and time again, including when she agreed to complete a couple of Amashova and 94.7 cycle races, run a few Two Oceans half marathons, and the London Marathon in 2015.
Carla found that the way up Kilimanjaro made for a very good bonding experience. “It also teaches you to just enjoy life a little bit.”
She explains that, just like in finance, putting in the hard work was absolutely critical, and there were some really tough moments, but the destination was worth it.
Carla admits that some nights during her climb were just awful.“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” However, it wasn’t because they were unfit, but because of the
unpredictable impact the oxygen and altitude can have on a person’s body. “At a certain altitude, your body either copes, or it doesn’t.”
Unfortunately, Carla experienced the latter. “At the top, it was really hard. I couldn’t breathe, it was extremely cold, and that last day is very long,” she says. “We were in a small group of 10 people, and for most of us, it was the first time we were doing something like this.”
She adds that, perhaps if they had done oxygen therapy training and tried other advanced survival techniques, it would have been easier. But with only a couple of 5km walks of preparation, they just winged it. And they made it!
Sandi’s trek also had some challenges. On her final push to the Everest Base Camp, there was a cyclone over India and the weather was awful. “There were icicles hanging inside our huts, we walked through whiteout blizzards on slippery rocks with a sheer drop to the glaciers below. There were some terrifying moments.”
One of the people in their group got altitude sickness and couldn’t complete the climb, Sandi adds. “After we came back, we found out that someone else we had met en-route to the trek had died on their way up.”
She explains that these moments were incredibly life-changing for her, and made the success at the end so much bigger of an achievement. “Perseverance and grit are key. Any challenge can be overcome if you have the end goal in mind and take it just one step at a time.”
Not only do the leaders that take on these tough climbs take their best tools and their world-class skills along with them on the hike, but they gain valuable new ones on the way.
“During those tough moments, it was interesting to see how everyone reacted to the stress. We learnt a lot about providing support to our teams, and I took a lot of those learnings back to work with me,” Carla says.
Sandi explains that: “Success definitely breeds success. Finding small victories is the key to making big changes. Whether it’s a process transformation project or strategic structural decisions, tackling each micro-topic one step at a time and celebrating each milestone along the way will ensure success.”
She adds that planning the path, understanding the potential obstacles and risks, and having a diverse and resilient team of experts who can help you navigate through the storm is also critical for success.
These women have gone above and beyond to test their skills. Like true leaders, they have taken on great challenges and successfully navigated through some quite literal storms. l
At the end of 2022, CFO South Africa hosted three dinners, on three different nights, in three of South Africa’s biggest cities. The dinners, which were hosted in partnership with Standard Bank, all shared the same optimism for the future of the country.
On 13 October, some of South Africa’s top CFOs gathered around a dinner table at The View at The Westcliff, overlooking the beautiful expanse of the city’s jacarandas. Over the delectable three-course meal, amid stories of shark cage diving, the CFOs explained that the country needs a “shark” to force people into action. “We can no longer be silent and watch as the surf breaks around us.”
Aware of the wave of challenges South Africans are currently facing, the CFOs revealed that the only way to change the tide was to focus on the small things they could do to change its direction. “We have a lot more agency than we believe,” one guest said. “We all think we’re victims that will drown in the wave, but actually we’re the solution.”
One of the biggest problems in the country currently is the high unemployment rate, attendees said. “If we want to change that, we need to look to the private sector, because it’s the biggest employer in South Africa – not the government.”
They shared stories of upskilling programmes and job creation initiatives that their organisations are implementing in an attempt to solve this problem.
However, the CFOs agreed that the government also has a role to play in effecting change, and that it is up to leaders like themselves to push politicians to think about the long-term impact of the policies and decisions they make.
They all concluded that, in a country with very few good role models, it was up to them to set an example for and ignite a passion in the next generations.
• Caylynne Fourie, CFO South Africa managing editor
• Clive Potter, Standard Bank head of coverage, South Africa
• Deon Smith, Thungela Resources FD
• Finhai Munzara, Africa Data Centres CFO
• Georgina Guedes, CFO South Africa executive community director
• Haroon Kalla, Amka Brands CFO
• Ian Vorster, Fortress REIT CFO
• Peter Kendzzora, Daimler Truck Southern Africa CFO
• Ryan Licht, Bidcorp Food FD
• Zen Dlamini, Standard Bank head of public sector client coverage
On 20 September, another group of top CFOs discussed the recipe for growth while gathered at Tryn restaurant. The accurately named Red Room was filled with optimism as the guests around the table agreed that there wasn’t one true recipe, but a combination of the right ingredients.
One of these ingredients, they said, was finding the right partners for your business. The guests explained that when you find the right synergy with another brand or business, and leverage that, you can unlock growth in areas that you had never thought of before.
Standard Bank’s acquisition of SnapScan in 2016, which had kicked off an aggressive growth phase for the fintech start-up, came up during the conversation. The bank’s recent acquisition and integration of Liberty was also mentioned, a deal that not only allowed Standard Bank to scale its insurance and asset management business, but exposed Liberty to a wider financial service offering and enabled it to leverage the economies of scale the bank has to offer. Other ingredients to this recipe are the right team and the right processes, guests said.
However, they pointed out that cooking up growth didn’t come without its challenges, with loadshedding being the main hindrance. Some said that their businesses had seen a significant drop in their revenue that directly correlated with the loadshedding schedules.
They debated whether there was a solution to the power problem as greener and more renewable energy became more prevalent, but they all agreed that only companies with big balance sheets could afford this shift, and without the buy-in from government, many smaller organisations’ recipes would end in a flop.
In addition, a lot of organisations are fighting the war on talent, which is proving to be a challenge for creating the right teams. They said a lot of South African talent is being lost to countries like Australia, which has an unemployment rate of only three percent.
Spirits remained high, however, as the CFOs concluded that there is a lot of potential for growth in South Africa, if people know how to unlock it using the right ingredients.
THOSE ATTENDING THE CAPE TOWN DINNER WERE:
• Anton de Bruyn, Shoprite CFO
• Braam Smit, Astron Energy CFO
• Caylynne Fourie, CFO South Africa managing editor
• Christiaan Barnard, Spear REIT CFO
• Clive Potter, Standard Bank head of corporate and investment banking, South Africa
• Derick Truscott, SnapScan CFO
• Georgina Guedes, CFO South Africa executive community director
• Louis de Wet, Main Street CFO
• Muhammad Brey, Sea Harvest Corporation CFO
• Reeza Isaacs, Woolworths CFO
• Sasha Cook, Standard Bank executive of sustainable finance
• Sumari Coetzee, Sanlam Emerging Markets CFO
On 22 September, in a week where global tensions escalated and supply chains were facing even more pressure, Durban’s top CFOs gathered around the dinner table at The Oyster Box. Guests agreed that crises like Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war have given regions with shorter supply chains, like Africa, an advantage.
“Supply chain problems around the world are arising because of globalisation,” one CFO said, referring to the dependence of businesses on global supply chains like Russia and China, which have been disrupted by the pandemic and war.
While the rest of the world tries to turn to nationalisation to strengthen their supply chains, domestic markets in Africa have become even more integrated. At the same time, South African corporates are reaping the benefits of localisation programmes.
“Crises elsewhere in the world are good for business in Africa,” another CFO explained. The local supply chains, high unemployment rates and low cost of doing business are attracting more investors into the continent.
In addition, the rest of the world is turning to Africa to learn resilience skills that have proven invaluable in a world that’s becoming more unpredictable.
And while guests around the table remain cautious of loadshedding, civil unrest and the recent floods are making investors cautious as South Africa becomes harder to insure, it is also teaching local organisations to diversify and grow into other regions of Africa.
They further agreed that the only way to ensure that investment in South Africa continues is for the private sector to partner with the government to improve the country’s infrastructure, support local communities and improve the economy.
However, they acknowledged that it was hard to get buy-in from the government, and that it was also up to organisations to partner with other businesses.
As the evening came to an end, the CFOs around the table all shared their optimism about the great potential that lies in Africa. They concluded that it is up to
South African organisations to tap into that potential and leverage their advantages to build a sustainable future for the country. l
THOSE ATTENDING THE DURBAN DINNER WERE:
• Akesh Bansee, Unilever Southern Africa VP of finance
• Alastair Petticrew, Bidvest Insurance FD
• Anusha Ramraj, CCI South Africa FD
• Caylynne Fourie, CFO South Africa managing editor
• Clive Potter, Standard Bank South Africa head of corporate and investment banking
• Doug Kasambala, Illovo Sugar Africa group FD
• Georgina Guedes, CFO South Africa executive community director
• Junaid Jadwat, Standard Bank KZN head of client coverage
• Muhammad Kadwa, FR Waring CFO
• Paulo Marques, InterCement South Africa CFO
• Rob Aitken, Tongaat Hulett CFO
• Sean Capazorio, Aspen Pharmacare CFO
• Shaun Govender, Toyota Tsusho Africa CFO
Finhai Munzara
Peter Kendzzora
Zen Dlamini
Irecently caught up with one of the CFOs in our community. He’s a tech CFO, and the last time we touched base about a year ago, he was talking about the Great Resignation and how he was struggling to attract and retain talent in a global job market.
Well, the winds of change have been blowing in the past 12 months. In our latest conversation, this same CFO told me that the global spate of tech retrenchments has meant that South African finance and tech job seekers are desperate for local work, and are hanging on to any job they have with both hands.
Musing on this made me think of an interview I had with a CFO many years ago. He was a young CFO and had just been through the first economic downturn he’d experienced as a finance leader. He was part of a large banking group, and he expressed his gratitude to the other, older CFOs he could turn to. They were able to help him with strategies based on their prior experience, and with the steadying notion that “this too shall pass”.
Everything in finance and business is cyclical, from commodity pricing to interest rates, from consumer demand to political unease. We can even dare to imagine that one day, South Africa’s electricity crisis might not be the pressing business and political issue it is right now.
One of the things that I love about my job is that I get to engage with some of the top minds in business and finance, and hear about their visions for the future. For those working hard at the pinnacle of industry in South Africa, there is optimism, there is opportunity and there is a way to plan for measurable successful outcomes.
So, to all the CFOs who share their ideas with us, and find the time to take part in our CFO South Africa community
events – to share knowledge and ideas – thank you for your time, your insights and your optimism.
If you haven’t managed to join us at any of our Summits, or CFO Day, or even the CFO Awards, drop me an email on the address below, and I’ll be sure to add your name to the guest list – and hopefully meet you at an upcoming event sometime soon.
Yours, in optimism,
Georgina Guedes
Daniel Smith Financial Director, Life & Brand Portfolio
