HOLDING OUT HOPE FOR SOUTH AFRICA

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.

The Joburg dinner

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.

THOSE ATTENDING THE JOHANNESBURG DINNER WERE:

• 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

The Cape Town dinner

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

The Durban dinner

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