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Ovamba co-founder Viola Llewellyn has become the first female African tech founder to speak at Slush's Central Stage

Leading neuroscientists, robotics and data scientists share their thoughts on what AI and robotics mean for the continent.

Moody's has placed all global scale ratings assigned to several South African corporates, including two SOEs, under review for downgrade

Brian Joffe's investment firm Long4Life has agreed to buy Cape Town-based Chill Beverages for R452 million

Coal of Africa has replaced CFO De Wet Schutte with Brenda Berlin, Impala Platinum Holdings CFO

South African FinTech startup Fo-Sho has launched a product aimed at making short-term insurance with long-term benefits via self-insurance widely accessible

The two retail businesses will also be merged into one, reporting into MMI deputy group CEO, Mary Vilakazi (pictured)

Nigerian and Kenyan FinTechs have made the prestigious list of 50 emerging companies in the sector

Listed distribution and industrial brand management company Barloworld maintained its revenue and operating profit levels from continuing operations

As of 1 December 2017, Makwana takes over from Gavin Dalgleish as Illovo Sugar South Africa chairman of the Board

The deputy CE shares his thoughts on technology, integrity, and the crucial role of the CFO in business and in nation building

FNB retained its Incumbent Bank title at the African FinTech Awards 2017

Wayne has completed a trifecta of nominations, after also receiving recognition in 2017 and 2016

The independent companies have applied to the Competition Commission for approval to unite under the umbrella of the Airlink group of companies

Ovamba has facilitated a large-scale cocoa distribution deal

Show your team how much you value them and they'll go above and beyond, the finance head says.

South African born and educated William Etzine recently joined Trump Hotels to head up their finance department

UK FinTech Glint has launched a service which enables customers to own portions of gold bars and make payments using the bars

The CFO SA MD talks about the dangers of not speaking up, being honest, and standing firm

Three of Glencore's directors, including CFO Steve Kalmin, to serve on the board of subsidiary company, Katanga Mining

Prof Woolard is the first woman to lead the university's faculty of economic and management sciences

Pieter van Buuren has resigned as York Timber CFO, with Gerald Stoltz filling the position in an acting capacity

A new EY survey shows that more than one-half of financial executives globally intend to pursue acquisitions in the coming year

The two companies have join forces to stir micro-enterprise growth

As of end February, 2018 Berlin will no longer head up Impala Platinum's finance division

The University of Pretoria graduate has been recognised for his sterling work at the municipality

Kentin Welgemoed has been appointed CEO of JSE-listed Spanjaard

Standard Bank operates with a model that lists five value drivers. And financial outcomes are not even number 1, 2 or 3.

Bidvest Group's banking unit has agreed to buy Hermanus-based FinGlobal for an as-yet-undisclosed sum.

We talk to Lushen Pather, who recently announced a move to SARB, about his time as Sasfin CFO.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has named Joubert a director of the company, effective immediately.

Naspers has announced that it has appointed Calvo Mawela as the new CEO of Multichoice South Africa

Bytes Document Solutions (BDS) has appointed Vivek Venkatkumar CA(SA) as its new financial director.

TFG expands its portfolio through acquisitions

Josef Langerman, Group Head: Software Engineering and Organisational Change, talks about new ways of working at scale.

Finance executives who flocked to the last CFO Summit of year in Johannesburg were treated to exclusive insights from Standard Bank's 'super economist' and treated to a thought-provoking panel discussion with business leaders.

Law firm Bowmans has appointed the highly experienced Jo-Ann Pohl as CFO.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the parent company of the Ecobank Group, has issued a $150 million convertible bond on the London Stock Exchange’s new International Securities Market (ISM).

The second Singapore FinTech Festival began this week, featuring over 25 000 participants from over 100 countries and more than 160 leaders from central banks and regulatory agencies, financial institutions, venture capital firms and fintech companies taking to the podium.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a strong drive to succeed. My father also taught me something at a very young age: ‘Don’t do something unless you’re intending to do it exceptionally well’. I still live by this,” says Liaan Kretzschmar, CFO/FD of Jaguar Land Rover South Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa.

BDO South Africa will be merging with the Cape Town and Port Elizabeth offices of Grant Thornton, effective 1 March 2018.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but you are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.

Nigerian online payments provider Amplify has partnered with banks in the West African nation to let clients conduct transactions via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other social messaging platforms through its innovative mTransfers solution. It will be launched before the end of 2017. Amplify helps businesses accept recurring payments online within minutes from customers in over 100 countries. It plans to bring banks closer to a new generation of social media-savvy clients and provide consumers with a more convenient way of banking. “Social and messaging apps are six of the 10 most popular mobile applications across platforms in Africa. We believe that vibrant and digitally savvy consumers want financial services to meet them where they are, in the channels and platforms they use,” said CEO Segun Adeyemi. “We have built mTransfers to empower banks and other financial institutions to blend their payment process into the everyday lives of their customers and provide an engaging user experience for them,” said Maxwell Obi, the startup’s chief technology officer.

Any business that doesn’t make a shift towards digital is ultimately staring down the barrel of redundancy, says world-of-work guru Raymond de Villiers of TomorrowToday Global. CFOs are key enablers of the decisions that need to be made to make this change, Raymond said, before unpacking eight future-proof elements of successful business models.

Afrimat Limited this week listed on A2X Markets (A2X), South Africa’s newest stock exchange, which began trading on 6 October 2017. Afrimat joins African Rainbow Capital Investments, Peregrine Holdings, and Coronation Fund Managers, all of which are already listed on the exchange.

Chinese vehicle manufacturer, Beijing Automotive Group South Africa (BAIC SA) has appointed Batandwa Mdyesha (pictured) as CFO, effective immediately.

4 Africa Exchange Proprietary Limited (4AX), one of only two exchanges in South Africa with a full licence to trade across asset classes, has announced its first listing in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, CA Sales Holdings Limited.

Fica specialist ThisIsMe stormed to victory at the first time of asking in the Innovative Banking category at the African FinTech Awards 2017, hosted at the Finance Indaba Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre in October. The FinTech firm, which has experienced exponential growth over the past year and has already surpassed the notable milestone of one million verifications, also claimed the overall title along with reigning champion Easy Equities.

Globetrotting head of finance Wayne Beifus has left his position at British American Tobacco (BAT) South Africa, after being promoted to head of finance for the West Europe area, based in Paris.

South African FinTech Jumo has secured $24 million in funding into Africa and Asia. London-based Gemcorp Capital and Finnish development finance company Finnfund were the loan providers.

Cabinet has approved the National Minimum Wage Bill, and draft legislation will now be referred to Parliament for further deliberation. Following this, President Zuma will be required to officially sign it into law.

“Every CFO is now a strategic partner to the organisation and has to be,” says Mgcinisihlalo Jordan, partner and deputy Chief Executive for Deloitte Africa. Better known as Sihlalo, the former leader of the firm’s financial services practice in Africa has an astute understanding of what should be expected of modern finance leaders. CFOs should champion the rise of disruptive technologies within their organisations, he said during an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa, where he also spoke about finance leaders’ responsibility to promote an aligned strategy, future-focussed technology and shining integrity.

In the current environment of global competition, sub-optimal growth, technology disruption, and political uncertainty, South African companies are finding it challenging to put an effective business strategy in place. But what can be done to address this need for planning that remains fundamental to success?

Lushen Pather has been appointed as Divisional Head: Bank Supervision at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), starting on 1 January 2018. He was Sasfin’s chief financial officer and as acting group FD was slated to take over the reins from his long-serving predecessor Tyrone Soondarjee.

After the incredible success of this year’s African FinTech Awards, the annual pitching and prize-giving extravaganza is expected to outdo itself yet again in 2018. Judges for the awards event gathered for a scrumptious breakfast on 7 November to discuss some of the event’s most exciting additions, tweaks and extras.

There is a lot at stake right now and your career and your business require that you make smart choices if you want to effectively navigate your way into 2018. And smart choices start with good information. The final CFO Summit of the year features boasts peer-to-peer learning and debates, plus exclusive insights on South Africa’s economic and political future from leading economist Goolam Ballim (Standard Bank), ZAR X CEO Etienne Nel and Deloitte's deputy CEO Mgcinisihlalo Jordan.

Monetary Authority of Singapore MD Ravi Menon has warned investors to be wary of peer-to-peer lending platforms and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg.

A 2016 SAICA Top 35-under-35 finalist, Chantelle Loots, CFO of Bombela Concession Company, says she feels fortunate to be a part of a young group of "fantastic CAs" in South Africa who are leading the way to the future.

Former KPMG chairman Ahmed Jaffer, who resigned amidst the Gupta-linked upheaval at the firm, has been appointed as group CFO of Crestar Printers and Publishers, a Centurion-based business run by his children Ikraam and Salahhuddeen.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but you are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.

Venture capital firm Village Capital has partnered with US payment platform PayPal to launch a three-month investment readiness programme Village Capital FinTech Africa, which will see two early-stage African startups walking away with $50 000 in investment funding. Applications to the programme opened last week and will close on 24 November.

The responsibility of Group Head of Trade is both humbling and exciting, says Vinod Madhavan, whose career has taken him across Africa and Asia (living and working in India, Singapore and South Africa). “It affords an opportunity to work in the intersection of my passion and desire to contribute to achieving Standard Bank’s social, economic and environmental (SEE) outcomes.” Vinod says his experience of engaging customers across 25 countries has afforded him the opportunity to learn from the experiences in offering trade and working capital financing solutions to clients in institutional, corporate, commercial and business banking client segments.

Leading governance expert Claudelle von Eck will be one of five members of SAICA's independent inquiry into allegations that former or current employees of KPMG have engaged in conduct which is in contravention of the SAICA Code of Professional Conduct.

Diversified retail group TFG has announced a record turnover of R12,5 billion (interim results to end-September), reflecting 9.2% growth. This despite difficult economic and political conditions in South Africa and the United Kingdom, two of the three major economies in which it trades.

According to Stefan Joselowitz (pictured), CEO of MiX Telematics, a leading global provider of fleet and mobile asset management solutions delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), the company has seen good results in the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2018.

During a riveting Sage event, finance and IT leaders were entertained, educated and inspired by two of Cape Town’s most knowledgeable CFOs and South Africa’s number one Internet of Things (IoT) expert.

Java Capital Holdings has been approved as an issuer agent/ sponsor to 4 Africa Exchange (4AX).

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has released a new open-source software for creating payment platforms that will help unbanked people around the world access digital financial services. The software is designed to provide a reference model for payment interoperability between banks and other providers across a country’s economy. It is available now, free-of-cost, for software developers to adapt and banks, financial service providers and companies to implement. Information on the code can be found at mojaloop.io.

For the fifth year in a row, Investec has been named the best private bank and wealth manager in South Africa at the Global Private Banking Awards in the UK.

Four black-owned South African financial services start-ups each won R1 million on Monday night at a pitching event hosted by AlphaCode, a club for next-generation FinTech entrepreneurs backed by RMI Holdings.

Insurance group Alexander Forbes has named Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, former ArcelorMittal SA CEO, as the new chairperson of its board. She is the first woman chair in the company’s 82-year existence.

Too many CFOs spend their time as financial gatekeepers and get tangled up in accounting, says Colin Human, financial modelling wizard and CEO of financial management consultancy Goalfix.

The Sun Exchange, a revolutionary online solar power marketplace, retained its Blockchain & Bitcoin title at the African FinTech Awards 2017 at the Finance Indaba Africa in October, with founding CEO Abe Cambridge calling on attendees to sign up on its online platform and begin earning money from solar power generation.

Local strategic specialist ICT reseller and systems integrator, the Velocity Group, has acquired a majority stake in IT services business, MLC Solutions.

Three South African developers who spent time in the USA have created the Slide app, which has the potential to start a payments revolution in the country.

“High return on equity is one thing but with R2 trillion of assets, the bank can really make a difference in people’s lives and the economies in which we operate,” says Standard Bank FD Arno Daehnke.

The Department of Public Enterprises recently announced two executive-level appointments at state arms company Denel: Odwa Mhlwana as the new group CFO and Zwelakhe Ntshepe (pictured) as the new group CEO.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but you are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.

Local FinTech Yoco and Mastercard have announced a collaboration that will see the rolling out of 15,000 mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) devices to small and medium-sized businesses by the end of the year, while educating them on the benefits of going cashless.

“Information maturity defines the difference between a good and a great business,” says Nick Bell, CEO of Decision Inc. “Proper use of data is not about impressing during board presentations with clever-looking graphs,” he says. “It’s about using information to improve important parts of the business, like logistics or preventive maintenance.”

Standard Chartered Private Equity has sold its stake in Kamoso Distribution, a Botswana retail and consumer goods company, to a consortium led by Investec Asset Management Private Equity, RMB Ventures, local partners and senior management.

PPC, South Africa’s largest cement producer, and which has operations in six countries in Africa, has received an expression of interest from LafargeHolcim.

London-listed Lonmin has said it intends to cut over 1,000 jobs before Christmas.

South African FinTech Mama Money, which offers affordable cross-border money transfers across Africa, has introduced a groundbreaking Fica registration process using photos and its app.

Agricultural products and services provider NWK has appointed Pieter Kleingeld as its new CFO, effective 1 November. Kleingeld joined NWK in 2015 as group manager for asset management and risk services.

No CFO will admit to enjoying a stress-free working life and one of the biggest sources of angst is tension within the finance team. Economic and political conditions, demographics, and culture shape the challenges CFOs encounter with team members and this is true no matter where they find themselves.

Wim de Klerk, the current CEO of Arcelor Mittal South Africa and a former Exxaro executive, has said he intends to retire in January 2018. He would have been in the role less than 18 months by this time.

The organisation of the CFO Awards in South Africa, CFO South Africa, has suspended all awards received by Anoj Singh, until further notice. This has happened in close consultation with the current panel of judges.

EasyEquities, which offers a revolutionary fractional trading platform that has broadened access to stock market investment, retained its title of overall winner of the African FinTech Awards at the Finance Indaba Africa in October. The winner of the InvesTech category, the groundbreaking firm, headed by CEO Charles Savage, this time shared the honours with Fica-focused FinTech ThisIsMe.

JSE-listed Rolfes, a chemical group, has announced that its current acting CFO Richard Buttle (pictured) will replace current but outgoing CEO, Lizette Lynch.

Africa presents the ideal environment in which to evolve a new cash and payments services architecture – by linking rapidly changing customer expectations with new technologies. This puts banks squarely at the centre of mediating the creative clash of trends and technology – as Africa’s financial institutions harness disruption for innovation and growth.

Earlier this year, Ramasela Ganda won the Public Sector CFO of the Year Award for her incredible accomplishments at Ekurhuleni Municipality. She dedicated the prize to “all public servants that serve us diligently and with honesty” and referred specifically to public sector CFOs who have “lost their lives because they said no to corruption”. Long eschewing a CFO role in the private sector, she left Ekurhuleni at the end of last year and started as CFO: rental and corporate service at Barloworld, which had been courting her for quite a while.

Frantz Scheepers has been appointed the new CFO of Clover Industries, replacing 2017 CFO Awards nominee, Elton Bosch (pictured).

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but you are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.

Ghana’s Bloom Impact, a machine learning loans marketplace accessible from smartphones has raised undisclosed funding from Engineers Without Borders Canada, EWB Ventures, an early-stage investor in innovative Africa-based social enterprises.

“At Standard Bank, we focus on business opportunities that help our clients grow financially and socially, in all the countries in which we operate,” says Sun? Brugman, chief risk officer for Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) at Standard Bank. “Equally, we aim to bring new business and investment into Africa by connecting the major markets outside of Africa to the continent.”

Maritime & Mercantile International (MMI), a subsidiary of the Dubai-based Emirates Group, has acquired a majority stake in Brand 2 Consumer Premium Drinks Company (B2C), a South Africa-based alcohol distribution startup.

iXBRL is a scary word right now, Linda Buchler, regional managing director at Ince, said at last week’s Finance Indaba Africa 2017, held at the Sandton Convention Centre. She went on to unpack what iXBRL means.

Building a culture of trust is an integral part of team building and ensuring that you have a thriving work environment, conference attendees were told during a discussion at last week’s Finance Indaba Africa 2017, held at the Sandton Convention Centre, between the financial director of Curro Holdings, Bernardt van der Linde, and Sasfin Bank Limited CFO, Lushen Pather.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) accepted a R1.2 million donation by Trillian in March of this year. It also thanked the Gupta-linked company for the role it played in nation building and furthering its efforts for the chartered accountancy brand in South Africa. This was reported first by EWN reporter Gia Nicolaides.

The economy of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to grow a moderate 2.4 percent in 2017 before gaining steam next year, says FocusEconomics.

“When you work in a multinational you’re up against some seriously smart people,” said Zaf Mahomed, CFO for McDonald’s South Africa, speaking as part of a panel at last week’s Finance Indaba Africa 2017. Expectations are much higher in terms of accuracy and deadlines with the spotlight firmly focused on CFOs, he added.

Anglogold Ashanti has announced that it will sell its newest gold mine, the Moab Khotsong mine, to Harmony Gold for $300 million, along with another mine, the Kopanang mine, to China’s Heaven-Sent SA Sunshine Investment Company, for $7.4 million.

“Who killed our creativity?” asked founder and CEO of I am Jack Frost, Paul Steenkamp, during Finance Indaba Africa 2017, held last week at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Navigating your way to success in the public sector is a matter of hard work, strategic thinking, a duty to serve, and – hopefully – uncompromising integrity, according to Ramasela Ganda and Rajesh Mahabeer. The two were sharing the stage as part of a panel discussion at the second annual Finance Indaba Africa, held in Johannesburg on 12 and 13 October 2017.

Financial services provider FedGroup has announced its acquisition of a controlling stake in Emergent Energy, the largest provider of installed solar photovoltaic (PV) commercial projects in South Africa.

African Bank has announced that its CEO, Brian Riley, intends to step down at the end of March next year. He will, however, remain on the board as a director from 1 April 2018.

"Sometimes I think we overemphasize the success of a business in relation to the numbers and the commercial propositions, instead of the person behind,” said Vodacom CHRO Matimba Mbungela, speaking last week at Finance Indaba Africa 2017, in a session about what CHROs wish accounts knew.

Optimism among UK-based CFOs has recovered from its post-election low and is close to levels seen at the end of last year, according to Deloitte’s latest CFO Survey.

The First World must destroy heavy machinery in order to make room for new technological developments, but because Africa was never highly developed, digitisation can happen faster, Kerushan Govender of Blacfox told technology enthusiasts last week at Finance Indaba Africa 2017, held at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Stadio, the JSE-listed investment firm with links to Curro, which recently announced its plans to develop private higher education institutions in South Africa, has announced that it will be buying the 20-year-old educational institution, Milpark Education, for R320 million

The African FinTech Awards 2017 ended in a historic tie between ThisIsMe and reigning champion EasyEquities for the title of overall winner, but there were many fascinating pitches during an intense two days at the Finance Indaba Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre on 12 and 13 October.

Robotic process automation will not replace accountants. In fact, automation can only make life easier, believes Josh May, senior solutions consultant and product manager at Blackline, who spoke last week at Finance Indaba Africa 2017, held at the Sandton Convention Centre.

It is vitally important for today’s CFO to be tech-savvy, though they should resist the urge to purchase technology for technology’s sake and instead respond to the needs of the business. This was the advice of Christine Ramon, CFO of AngloGold Ashanti, and Wayne Koonin, CFO of Omnia Holdings and winner of the Finance & Technology Award at this year's CFO Awards, during last week’s Finance Indaba Africa 2017, held at the Sandton Convention Centre.

The Zimbabwe-based associate of AB InBev, Delta Corporation, is finalising a deal to acquire a controlling stake in National Breweries of Zambia, the leading sorghum beer producer in Zambia.

Ryan Canin, the CEO of DocFox, which has gone from software development to a truly global business a verification and authentication FinTech, put on a rollicking masterclass in front of a packed house at the African FinTech Awards at the Finance Indaba Africa on 12 October at the Sandton Convention Centre.

If you compare entrepreneurship with what a traditional MBA entails, you tend to find a little bit of a contradiction, said Dr Corne Meintjies, MBA Programme Coordinator and Senior Lecturer at Monash South Africa, speaking last week at Finance Indaba Africa 2017.

With stories of corruption and mismanagement rife in South Africa, there is one thing that will keep us afloat in extraordinary times. “Technology is one of the biggest drivers of change,” said Dr Sarah Bux, associate director for South Africa – management accounting at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), speaking during last week’s Finance Indaba Africa 2017, held at the Sandton Convention Centre.

The Registrar of Banks, part of the SA Reserve Bank, headed by Deputy Reserve Bank Governor Kuben Naidoo, has granted Discovery its banking licence.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but you are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.