From banking to investment teams to a fintech operating across Africa, Jade Longano had done almost every other job before stepping into the CFO chair. She describes most of it as figuring it out as she went.
Jade Longano, chief financial officer at 10X Investments once turned down a career path in audit, left an investment team – something she notes few people do – and ran partnerships for a mobile lending fintech company across Africa. But she still describes herself as figuring it out as she goes.
Speaking to CFO South Africa Jade shared how she got into the drivers seat in finance.
Why did you decide to become a chartered accountant (CA)?
Jade: I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do when I started studying – I just knew I was good at accounting, so I kept going. Becoming a CA felt like the best way to keep my options open. It’s a qualification that travels well and opens doors across industries, both in South Africa and abroad. After finishing my business science degree in finance on the CA stream, I decided to do my graduate diploma in accounting (GDA) and articles and figure it out as I went.
What was your CA articles experience like?
Jade: During my postgraduate accounting year, I worked over the holidays at one of the big audit firms and quickly realised I didn’t want to be an article clerk in audit. I didn’t enjoy the work at all; most of my time was spent listening in on calls, ticking off items on annual financial statements and casting columns of numbers. So I started looking for articles outside of public practice and applied to all the major banks – Standard Bank, Nedbank and Investec. I was offered a place on Investec’s TOPP programme, which let me train as a CA in banking. I didn’t follow the typical, vanilla CA route.
What did you do after your articles?
Jade: I spent three years on Investec’s programme, doing six‑month rotations across different parts of the business. My last three rotations were all in asset management: first in private equity, then in Investec Wealth and finally in the credit team at Investec Asset Management in Cape Town, where I signed off as a CA. I stayed on in the investment team at Investec Asset Management for five years and later moved into the equity research team, working with a well-known portfolio manager on what was then the Investec Opportunity Fund, now the Ninety One Opportunity Fund.
Why did you leave the investment team?
Jade: I realised I’d more or less drifted into that role and wasn’t convinced it was what I wanted to do long term. I wasn’t sure I actually enjoyed working in investment teams, analysing listed markets and making buy or sell calls. So I decided to make a big career change. Ironically, by that point I still hadn’t worked as a CA in a traditional accounting firm or in a classic accounting role at all.
Where did you go after Investec?
Jade: I joined a fintech business called Jumo, which offers micro‑loans via mobile phones and mobile money across Africa. The company started in East Africa as AFB in Kenya before rebranding to Jumo. When I was there, its biggest markets were Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania, parts of Kenya and Pakistan, with new rollouts happening in countries like Cameroon, Benin and a few other African markets.
What was your role at Jumo?
Jade: I became head of the partnerships team, which sat at the heart of the business because Jumo’s whole model relied on working with mobile network operators like MTN and Airtel, and with banks that provided the funding for the loans. In that role I got deeply involved in commercial strategy: how we priced our offering to partners, how and when we recognised and collected revenue, and whether the business was making money. I stayed there for four years and loved being so close to the operations of a business.
What did you learn at Jumo about capital allocation?
Jade: Jumo, like many fintechs, raised significant capital for a range of projects. That made me more interested in capital allocation and what it takes to make good decisions about where and how to invest a company’s resources. At Ninety One, part of our investment philosophy had been to back businesses with high returns on invested capital and strong capital allocators, because over time those returns compound and those companies tend to be the standout investments. At Jumo, I had exposure to the operations, the commercial engine and how capital was being deployed, and it crystallised for me that what I really wanted to do was step into a CFO role, with responsibility for stewarding a company’s capital and making sure it was allocated wisely.
How did you end up at 10X Investments?
Jade: With no experience running a finance team but lots of experience analysing financial statements, building models, analysing capital allocation and working in business operations, I applied for a couple of CFO roles. One was at 10X. I knew of the CEO, Tobie van Heerden, from Ninety One (asset management); we had worked there at the same time. We hit it off in interviews, he liked my commercial-focused experience and deal negotiation background from Jumo, and offered me the job.
What has been your focus since joining 10X Investments?
Jade: I joined in May 2023, and a large part of my work has been the acquisition by Old Mutual. 10X was owned by Old Mutual Private Equity and another private equity company called DiGame. They both sold their stakes to Old Mutual Wealth, while management retained its stake. Leading up to the deal, I was closely involved in appointing advisers, running our own finance and legal due diligence, supporting potential bidders through their additional due diligence, and building and refining the financial models. Alongside the transaction, I oversee the finance, compliance and risk teams.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Jade: Working on the acquisition deal has definitely been a highlight; it’s been a great process to be part of. But closely followed by making a complete career change from an investment team to an operational role. That was definitely the best decision I could have made. Not many people leave investment teams once they’re in them.
What about lowlights?
Jade: I don’t think I’ve had a lowlight. I've really enjoyed all of it for different reasons. Being in an investment team is very stressful. When you back a stock, call it a buy and it goes against you, the pressure is real, but I see that as part of the privilege and responsibility of the job rather than something negative. Looking back, there isn’t an experience I regret or a role I wish I hadn’t taken.
What's the most significant challenge in your current role?
Jade: Because I didn’t follow the traditional route into a CFO role, there’s still a lot I’m learning. Just as I was getting comfortable with how the finance team runs and how to produce financial statements as a regulated entity in tight timelines, I became responsible for the compliance team. Getting to grips with investment compliance, FICA, FAIS and how all those regulatory pieces fit together has been stretching. The real challenge is staying up to speed: the moment you feel on top of things, there’s something new, but that’s also what keeps the work interesting.
How was the transition from established Investec/Ninety One to newer, disruptive 10X Investments?
Jade: It was super refreshing. I had the benefit of being on both extremes: starting at Ninety One, which was very conservative, corporate, with established systems, then going to Jumo, which was a fintech with few established processes and everyone figuring it out as they go. That was quite a contrast. Coming to 10X feels like a good mix. We have people with lots of asset management experience from corporate South Africa, so we benefit from established processes. But we also have a really strong tech team and a retail direct-to-consumer team that’s quite disruptive. Team leads from those areas originally came from SnapScan, bringing more of a fintech aspect. There’s an interesting tension between traditional and tech, old and new, but it’s a really nice combination. The business is run responsibly with elements of doing things in new ways, but not on the extreme fintech end where capital is spent very quickly in continuous capital-raising cycles.
How would you describe your leadership style?
Jade: At Jumo, I was in my first leadership role leading a broad, diverse team across continents: Ghana, Pakistan, Mauritius, South Africa and Zambia. I was often younger than many of the people I managed, so I had to learn how to lead without relying on age or seniority. I’d describe my style as very personable. I like to get to know people personally, engage with them, understand their daily challenges, and figure out how to unblock them. I always ask my team: How can I help? What can I do to unblock what you're trying to do?
They’re the ones doing the work; my job is to facilitate, support and figure out how to make our work more efficient. This approach came from often not being the most senior in terms of age or feeling like I couldn’t impart huge amounts of expertise, but I could facilitate and support.
How do you view the CFO role changing?
Jade: I can’t speak much to how it’s changed since I haven’t been a CFO that long, but any good CFO should be very dynamic. It’s not just counting the rands and cents and sticking to the budget, it’s about ensuring capital and expenditure generates the right return on capital. At 10X, we don’t have large capital investment, but you must ensure that what you’re spending on salaries and tech generates the right revenue return. I also think it’s important to consider AI in finance and how to use it to improve processes and insights. We haven’t done a huge amount, but just the other day I dumped our GL into Claude and asked it to produce management accounts, it came out exactly right. You have to embrace these things to be front-footed.
