Taking the bull by the horns- Leila Fourie

HOW INVESTING IN AFRICA IS GETTING UPGRADED

Leila Fourie, Group CEO, JSE, is using her wide-ranging experience and interactions in South East Asia and Australia to redefine what capital markets and investing will look like in Africa – a reimagined investment community accessed through cutting edge fin tech, untapped capital markets and SMMEs. By tapping into the potential of AI, block chain and fin tech to deliver an investment platform that works for every South African, the focus is shifting to not only increasing the current number of great companies that are already listed on the JSE, but also to aggressively attract investors from elsewhere in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South-East Asia.

In this Top Women podcast, Topco CEO, Ralf Fletcher is in conversation with Leila who has held the position of CEO of the JSE since October 2019. With a career that spans more than 25 years, Leila has worked in the capital markets, payment systems, consulting, investment banking and retail banking. Leila brings with her a wealth of knowledge not only in the realm of business, but also on an interpersonal level. She uses her experience, both locally and globally, to implement new strategies in all of her roles, making sure to stay up to date with new worldwide advancements. In this podcast, Leila discusses how our roots and experiences are what shape us and how we, as Africans, are in a very unique position at this time, where there is much space for us to do good. She also considers the way we need to approach leadership roles in order to achieve optimal success and the way that technology advancement is moving in today’s rapidly-evolving world.

KEY TAKEAWAYS TO LISTEN OUT FOR IN THIS PODCAST

1. Often our careers, achievements and failures are a culmination of our upbringings and the stories we ourselves have to tell - our approach to life can be very rooted in the lessons we’ve learned from those who came before us.

2. Sometimes enquiry is more powerful than advocacy, and in the same sense, sometimes listening is more powerful than telling.

3. As business women, we are privileged in a society with many underprivileged women who have either not had the opportunity for education or the opportunity to build their careers.

4. An advantage that Africa and emerging markets have, is that we are able to leap frog legacy technology - we have a very real opportunity to attract international investments.

5. Technology advancement really comes down to the culture that leaders create to enable it.

Leila Fourie, Group CEO, JSE

For the last 25 years Leila’s business career has spanned working in consulting, investment banking, retail banking and capital markets. Her diverse experience has been acquired in some of South Africa’s leading companies in these fields, including Accenture, Standard Bank and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Through the course of her career, Leila has held senior executive positions and directorships of global portfolios, local boards & US boards. Her board roles have included that of non-executive director, executive director and managing director.

Leila has also served as board chairperson. Over the course of her career, Leila has gained experience in turnarounds, set up of two new Greenfields organisations; established new global and local divisions within a multi-national organisation; launched new products; established and closed down joint ventures; advocated on national policy matters; and maintained existing revenue producing and support functions. Leila holds a Ph.D.in Economic and Financial Sciences.