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South Africa has regained its position as Africa’s largest economy in dollar terms after being bumped to second and then third place (with Nigeria in first and Egypt in second).

“Corporate culture is the most important driver of women’s confidence in their own success. In general, corporate culture still has a preference for more masculine leadership styles, making it more challenging for women to lead,” says Inge Walters, facilitator and coach at Eve Learning, a company she founded in early 2015 and which focuses on leadership development for women.

Badibanga ‘Badi’ Promesse (pictured) was appointed Regional Director at CIMA Africa, effective 1 August. Badi has been a Strategic Account Director at CIMA since 2010, leading the region’s direct activities by managing its operations and driving both growth and strategy across Africa.

"We offer a comprehensive and holistic set of services to facilitate how finance organisations or departments provide value to their constituency and come together to deliver this value well," says Christo van Staden, head of interventions at WorldsView Academy, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

According to Reserve Bank data, South Africa’s net gold and foreign exchange reserves have risen 0.2% month-on-month, up from from $40.826 billion in June to $40.901 billion in July. The central bank further noted that gross reserves fell 0.5%, from $46.366 billion to $46.157 billion, while the forward position edged up from $1.616 billion to $1.723 billion. According to Reuters, Nedbank’s Economic Unit said:

“You have to be mindful of operating within the law at all times as a CFO in the public sector, because it’s your career on the line,” says Rendani Sadiki, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform CFO. “Colleagues may make requests that are outside the ambit of the law, but you have to explore the prescripts before you respond. You mustn’t just say no; you must bring a solution. That person might not be intentionally trying to break the law, they might just not be acquainted with those prescripts. So I rather try to advise them of their options.” The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is mandated to create and maintain equitable land dispensation and acts as a catalyst in rural development to ensure sustainable rural livelihoods, which it does through various programmes and initiatives. Rendani oversees strategic financial management within the Department – a mandate she says is quite broad. “As the financial strategist, I have to develop and implement financial strategies to manage limited resources at our disposal so that the department is able to deliver the services efficiently and effectively, and within budget.” She also oversees the governance of the Department.

Steinhoff International Holdings has agreed to buy South African discount retailer Mattress Firm Holding in a deal worth around R32.9 billion – $2.4 billion.

Business is about people. Of course it’s about profit, processes, technology, and many other things too, but ultimately it’s about people. The end buyers in all value chains are people, and the energy that drives a business is people: employees, management, owners, stakeholders. These people have needs as well as worries. A big matter on the minds of many is their family, and within this, concerns about education. An innovation turn-key, tax-friendly employee benefit product, Kinfundi, hopes to change this.

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

New South African stock exchange ZAR X, set to launch on 1 September and begin trading on 1 October this year, has had its conditional approval for a licence suspended, following a successful appeal lodged by the JSE.

Jabu Mabuza (pictured), Telkom chairperson and head of Business Unity South Africa, has been named the new chair of the African division of Anheuser-Busch InBev's (AB InBev) merged company with SABMiller. Mabuza will work with Carlos Brito, CEO, to finalise the governance and constitution of the board.

Having finally concluded the pre-conditions to the merger just recently, on 29 July, SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) seem to also have settled on a date by when the takeover process will be complete – 10 October.

“As SAICA we are very excited about the Finance Indaba Africa which will be held on 13 and 14 October 2016,” says Terence Nombembe, CEO of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). “The event is a great initiative from CFO South Africa, where we can showcase excellence and the value CAs(SA) can contribute to society.”

Packaging manufacturer Mondi has announced a rise in first-half profit of 11%, due to an increase in consumer business volumes. David Hathorn (pictured), Mondi CEO, said in a statement:

"We have become synonymous with delivering sustainable good governance in the public sector and driving continuous improvement in both our public and private sector operations," says Thandeka Zondi, strategy and business development director at SekelaXabiso, a platinum partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Leading global IT, consulting and business process services company Wipro has launched a three-year CSI project in partnership with South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to set up 29 computer labs across South Africa, benefiting 28,000 students from rural areas. Gavin Holme, Business Head, Wipro Africa, said the company is committed to building a sustainable economy in South Africa, and that Wipro will be providing a broad range of hardware, software, connectivity, education and programme management resources.

“We focus on middle- and back-office operations and it’s all about wringing efficiencies out of these operations – automating as much as possible, saving on staff costs, reducing breaks due to reconciliation problems, etc," says Mark Neethling, the GM of Financial Services at Bytes Technology Group, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

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.

Elize Kirsten (pictured), a Lecturer at the University of Pretoria, in the Department of Financial Management, has been chosen as the 2016 CFO Brand Ambassador in the CFO Case Study Competition, winning R10,000 in the process. One of Kirsten’s teams, Team UP 116, is in the Top 6 heading to the semi-finals at the JSE on 13 October 2016.

“The most unsettling thing for anyone is uncertainty,” says Graham McGregor, CFO of New GX Capital Holdings, a BEE investment holding company with interests in the environmental solutions, logistics, power and telecoms, and corporate finance advisory sectors. Sharing his experience, while in his previous position, of a merger that happened between two very different businesses under one umbrella company McGregor says keeping staff abreast of what was happening at all times was crucial: “Because if there’s a communication gap, people fill in the gap themselves.” He also learnt an important lesson:

Charles Tilley (pictured) has ended his 15-year tenure as CEO of CIMA, 31 July having been his last day. He has taken up a post as the part-time Executive Chairman of the newly established CGMA Research Foundation, which has a particular focus on raising the awareness and driving the adoption of the Global Management Accounting Principles.

“In every industry, ground-breaking leaps into the future are being reported on an almost daily basis. All except for one – mining. Could it be that our current world view limits the way we think about mining companies? Could we invent a more powerful, more soulful, more meaningful way to mining? I think we can,” says expert accountant Coenie Middel.

Cloud accounting software company Xero, which officially launched in South Africa in May, has appointed Colin Timmis (pictured) as its new head of accounting in SA.

Marnus Broodryk (pictured), CEO of The Beancounter, an accounting firm currently disrupting SA’s finance industry with its innovative approach, has agreed to dig deep into his own pockets in order to give away big money on M-Net’s brand new reality show, Shark Tank South Africa, for which he has been chosen as a “Shark”. Based on the Emmy-award-winning US series, Shark Tank invites entrepreneurs with potentially lucrative products or business ideas to pitch their plans to the "Sharks” for consideration. If they like the idea, they may offer the entrepreneur a deal. Broodryk said:

To date, some 11,000 votes have been received (and just keep on coming), and as many as 200 companies entered into the African FinTech Awards. At present, the five top-scoring companies are Wala (1,200 votes), Vuga Pay (1,155 votes), Branch (980 votes), Yoco (420 votes), and MyBucks (358 votes).

“We [Africa] need to market ourselves more. We have a continent with lots of opportunities for people, we have a young and vibrant population and a growing middle class. We need to let people know that we are open for business and that we are very investor friendly,” says Seyi Bickersteth, National Senior Partner KPMG Nigeria & Chairman KPMG Africa Practice. Seyi has enjoyed a long and illustrious career – one that spans 40 years, in fact – and is no stranger to change. Currently, he oversees KPMG’s business in Africa, and calls his most important responsibilities developing people, outlining the vision for KPMG, and setting the strategy for how the firm will move forward. “Our clients are increasingly telling us they want to succeed in Africa but in order to do that they need a firm that can provide a single point of contact to meet all of their expectations in the region. This guides our strategy.”

In line with market expectations, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced earlier this month that it would leave the leading policy rate unchanged at 7%, keeping the prime lending rate at 10.5%. Maura Feddersen (pictured), Senior Economic Advisor with KPMG Economics, Financial Risk Management, has identified four reasons why the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) kept interest rates unchanged.

"One of the challenges for corporate leaders is that often, they are not good communicators, or are not very effective communicators. They largely communicate via email, company newsletters or noticeboards, and PowerPoint presentations. To get the key message through you’ve got to be more creative than that and become a better storyteller,” says consultant and academic, Peter Christie, better known as Big Chief Talking Bull.

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.

Tiger Brands has announced that Noel Doyle (pictured), who has been the company’s COO since July 2015, will be taking over the CFO role from Funke Ighodaro as of 1 August.

"We can help finance professionals to improve their ability to better utilise their time, by automating and simplifying remedial processes like data collection, allowing them to spend more time on analysis," says Anna Puzone, the head of enterprise performance management at information management company Zetta Business Solutions, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Norman Mbazima (pictured), CEO of Kumba Iron Ore, which is 70% owned by Anglo American, has announced his resignation. Mbazima will be stepping down at the end of August in order to focus on the restructuring of the company, as well as Anglo American’s coal business. Anglo American said of the news:

Through some incredible tech-enabled financial discipline, CFO Colin Brown helped saving Super Group from the abyss, setting the South African flagship firm on course again for massive expansion. Since then successes have been commonplace, with Colin (pictured with Discovery's Terrence Taylor) winning no less than three CFO Awards and the group regularly reporting spectacular growth. On 21 July 2016, at the CFO event on M&A, Colin provided some candid insight and valuable tips during a round table discussion with a select group of CFOs.

In its recent trading update, released on Friday 22 July, steel company ArcelorMittal SA said that when it releases its results on 29 July for the six months to end-June, it anticipates reporting that its interim headline loss per share widened by as much as 75%, its headline loss per share having deteriorated to between 43c and 47c.

While many other teams in a business have some flexibility as far as deliverables, reporting and project timelines go, this is a luxury not often enjoyed by the finance team. But as the pace of doing business is so much faster today, is it not time the finance function became more agile too? We spoke to experienced CFOs and other industry experts to get their insight. By Toni Muir "Being agile requires openness, the reservation of judgement and the ability to turn on a dime," says Terrence Taylor, general manager: Talent, Analytics, Leadership and Learning at Discovery. You need people with a cosmopolitan outlook, an open mindset and an eclectic set of experiences, he adds, and a leader who is comfortable sharing leadership and power. But what exactly is an agile team, and what makes it so? Moreover, why is this important to the finance function?

African budget airline fastjet has said it will raise as much as £19.2 million through a share issue, issuing the shares at 50 pence each. This according to Reuters.

Discovery Ltd has announced that it will soon launch its behaviour tracking programme, an initiative that rewards health and life insurance clients for healthy lifestyle choices as well as aids in fitness tracking, in Japan.

The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) made a decision yesterday to keep the repo rate at 7% and to revise the country’s growth forecast down to 0%. The Sarb has not, however, ruled out the potential for further interest rate tightening later in the year. Sizwe Nxedlana, FNB chief economist, said in a statement:

“The first week after we were acquired, I went to sit with management and tried to get an understanding of why they had bought us and what they had promised their shareholders. I then took that, came back home and developed a strategy to give them what they wanted to see,” said Cobus Grove, CEO Digicore Holdings, speaking as a member of the panel at last night’s CFO South Africa event, Where the rubber meets the road, the second in a two-part series on M&A. The evening’s discussion covered the CFO’s role post-deal, including how CFOs meet the multitude of market, investor and board expectations, as well as how to best integrate systems processes and cultures. Cobus was joined by Deon Fredericks, CFO Telkom; Charl Keyter, CFO Sibanye Gold; Ryan McDougall, Group FD Trustco; and Walter Palk, Partner at KPMG.

Barclays Africa CE Maria Ramos (pictured) recently announced that the bank will be partnering with clients, governments, NGOs and economic development agencies on a multimillion-rand shared growth initiative aimed at boosting education and skills development.

"We understand that the current financial landscape requires innovation, creativity and the need to understand and address a great variety of complex issues, and have therefore aligned our programmes to prepare students as effectively as possible for the business and economics sphere," says Professor Humphrey Gowar from Monash South Africa (MSA), a platinum partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Gold Fields Ltd recently announced the appointment of 59-year-old Yunus Suleman (pictured) as independent non-executive director to the Board of Gold Fields Ltd, effective 1 September 2016.

"Leading in a new world requires the ability to join the dots, connecting the most relevant information and people from across the organisation when making decisions," says Zahra Cassim, the head of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants' (CIMA) South African chapter, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

In a bid to address the financial literacy skills gap in South Africa, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has released a new guide, ‘Financial management and business success - a guide for entrepreneurs’, designed to help small businesses understand the importance of financial literacy. Nomsa Nkomo (pictured), Policy Manager, ACCA South Africa, said:

"To lead you need to know yourself and why you’re doing things,” opines Groeneveld South Africa CFO, Lewis Kangausaru. Lewis has been a part of the Groeneveld team since October 2013, and is responsible for the full financial governance of the company. He says reflectiveness is a core of the leadership principle: “To be forward-thinking you need to be reflective, to take time to think about what has occurred in a given space of time, the decisions you’ve made, why you’ve made them and the current outcomes.”

CFOs need to actively manage IT risk, says John Mc Loughlin, Managing Director of software company J2: “It is vital that the CFO take an active role in managing this risk – as it appears IT may not have the executive drive to get it done themselves.” In this article, John shares some of the top questions CFOs must ask themselves when dealing with risk management and threats, and before declaring their IT policy as sound.

A recently released report by the African Corporate Governance Network (ACGN)has revealed that Kenya ranks 14th in Africa with regards to corporate governance, and is one of the top five improving nations in this regard.

Nigeria’s Central Bank has dismissed fears of a banking crisis despite several alarming happenings, including the recent resignation of the CEO, chairman and 10 board members of Nigeria’s eighth-biggest lender, Skye Bank, following the biggest drop in the bank’s share price in over six months. The Central Bank was quoted by AFP as having said in an email statement:

According to the latest Robert Walters South Africa Job Index, the last quarter saw a 6% overall decrease in job advertising volumes compared to Q2 2015 in SA across all finance functions; with a 15% annual decline in job advertisements in accounting and finance overall. Robert Walters, a leading specialist professional recruitment consultancy, attributes this decline to the compounding effects of consistent political uncertainty, a British and European economy which has been paralysed by Brexit, and challenging currency exchange rates for South African importers.

Roy Clark, MD of Clarkhouse Human Capital, recently moderated a thought leadership session where 20 CFOs were invited to discuss the role of transformation and diversity in the workplace, and what the role of a CFO is in fostering this. In this self-penned piece, Clark delves into why transformation and diversity are such misunderstood notions, and looks at how corporate South Africa can make these ideas work within their organisations.

Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has appointed Cilliers Steyn as its new CFO. Steyn previously held the position of CEO of Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH), of which DFA is a subsidiary. Steyn takes over from Thinus Mulder, who has accepted the position of permanent CEO, following Gustav Smit stepping down. Mulder said of Steyn's appointment:

"We offer clients an integrated, full-service offering for all their marketing needs – a real one-stop solution which delivers benefits in terms of value, consistency, confidentiality and sheer ease of doing business,” says Alban Atkinson, MD of integrated corporate communications agency INCE, a PLATINUM partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The Reserve Bank has granted authorisation to the South African Post Office (Sapo) for the latter to establish its own bank. The Postbank will now be re-registered as a new company in order for it to operate as a fully-fledged bank and to allow it to lend money.

"When people receive a below-par standard of service from Sars, our office offers a free channel to air complaints," says Advocate Eric Mkhawane, CEO in the Office of the Tax Ombud, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

To be ready for the future, CFOs need to embrace imagination, make bold choices and be intimately connected to customers and employees. Those were some of the main takeaways at a lively CFO breakfast debate in Cape Town's Westin Hotel on Tuesday 12 July 2016. Preceded by a thought-provoking and often humorous presentation by futurist Morne Mostert, the high-level intimate gathering of about 35 people was treated to insights by Woolworths CFO Reeza Isaacs (3rd photo) and retired Remgro CFO Leon Crouse (bottom photo), who played a pivotal role in the success story of Vodacom.

Capital equipment, fleet management and contract mining group Eqstra has concluded an all-share deal with JSE-listed industrial energy group enX which will see enX acquire its fleet management and industrial equipment divisions in exchange for 52.7 million shares, valued at R21 per share, and raise R1.5 billion of which R1.4 billion will be used to recapitalise the contract mining business.

Never underestimate the value of relationships, says Waseem Carrim, CFO of the NYDA.

Some 3,300 votes have already been received for the African FinTech Awards since the launch of the voting competition two weeks ago. At present, top-scoring companies include Wala (508 votes), Sureswipe (255), Wealthmigrate (217), Simplepay (204), Mobicred (178).

As a youngster, Peter Christie was enormously fond of Western movies, particularly those which featured North American Indians giving cowboys what he calls “a good klapping”. One movie in particular made a big impression on the youngster: The Great Sioux Massacre, where, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, shaman Big Chief Sitting Bull led the defeat of General Custer and other troops of the US Army. Peter can still recall a gift he received from his parents at this time: a colourful North American Indian costume that included feathered headdress, leather-tasselled vest, moccasins and tomahawk. Needless to say it immediately became a firm favourite of the energetic six-year-old who, when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, answered without hesitation, “Big Chief Sitting Bull”. Peter being quite the chatterbox, his dad adapted this to “Big Chief Talking Bull”, and the name stuck. Peter has always had a liking for stories – reading them, telling them, watching them, and writing them. As an adult, he turned this talent into a career, establishing a successful consultancy that teaches business people how to unlock their storytelling potential in order to become better, more influential leaders.

Eskom has received an almost R20 billion loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund its infrastructure expansion programme, which includes the Medupi and Kusile new build initiatives. Eskom said in a statement:

Swiss-based insurer Zurich has announced that its South Africa and Botswana operations will be acquired by Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. The announcement ended speculation that Zurich’s parent has been planning to exit South Africa. Zurich said in a statement:

Telesure Investment Holdings (TIH) has announced that it has appointed Tom Creamer (pictured) as its new CEO. Creamer’s appointment follows the very recent resignation of Manny Rios, who left TIH due to differences in perspective on the strategic direction of the business.

"We have always believed passionately in the role accountants play in creating a better world by helping to make businesses more successful, creating jobs and generating wealth," says Coenraad 'Coenie' Middel, whose firm Middel & Partners has been named as one of the most inspiring accountancy practices in the world and has been included in the recently published ‘The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants’ by author Steve Pipe.

Naspers, Africa’s largest company by market value, has named Akash Bhatia as the new CFO of its Showmax video streaming business. Bhatia is currently vice president of finance at Naspers’s classifieds business. He previously held positions at Time Warner’s HBO and Comcast’s NBCUniversal. Bhatia has been quoted in the media as saying:

CFO South Africa chose to honour Simon Ridley (pictured), recently retired FD of Standard Bank and CFO of the Year 2014, as well as esteemed member of this year’s judging panel, by presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s CFO Awards. Unfortunately, Simon was unable to accept the award in person and spend the evening celebrating with his peers, as he was touring Namibia on a motorbike at the time of the event. Simon’s colleague, Luvuyo Masinda, CFO Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), accepted the award on his behalf. Masinda said:

MTN has appointed Stephen van Coller (pictured) as vice president of strategy and mergers & acquisitions, effective 1 October 2016. Van Coller’s appointment comes amid various executive changes at MTN, including the recent appointment of Rob Shuter as CEO and the resignation of Brett Goschen as CFO.

"We will ensure that attendees leave with a more nuanced understanding of SAIPA so that they can become our partner in our goal of growing and transforming the accounting profession," says Zobuzwe Ngobese, marketing and communications executive at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA), a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Brett Goschen (pictured), MTN Group CFO, will be leaving the company effective 30 September 2016 to “pursue other interests”. Goschen will simultaneously be stepping down from the MTN board of directors.

Most CFOs dream of saving a company with sheer accounting brilliance, fantasise about lining shareholders’ pockets through a spectacular M&A deal, and secretly yearn for fame. Cobus Grove achieved all that before he turned 34 years old. In a series of interviews with CFO South Africa, Cobus shares how he saved JSE-listed company DigiCore and sold it to US firm Novatel Wireless. He talks about his compulsion to keep succeeding and gives candid insight into the personal toll of managing such high-stake corporate manoeuvres.

Peter Matlare (pictured) has been appointed deputy CEO of Barclays Africa, effective 1 August 2016.

South African export businesses in the machinery, vehicle manufacturing and platinum industries could be heavily impacted by the British withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit). So writes Lullu Krugel*, Chief Economist at KPMG South Africa, in an exclusive analysis for CFO.co.za. South African businesses also might have to consider moving their European offices from London to elsewhere in Europe to keep access to the EU Single Market. Ireland anyone?

A recently released KPMG survey has revealed that 56% of CEOs believe that the next three years will be more critical for their industries than the previous 50; with South African CEOs among those surveyed. Trevor Hoole (pictured), KPMG CEO in Southern Africa, said:

The top six teams have been selected to advance to the next stage of The CFO Case Study Competition. To recap just how far these six teams have come, 320 teams representing 1,278 aspirants from 53 universities in 25 countries across five continents entered to take part in this maiden edition of the competition, so achieving a place in the top six is no mean feat.

Govinder Sateesh Kamath has been appointed the new Safaricom CFO, effective 1 August, following the recalling of CFO John Tombleson earlier this week.

Successful venture capitalist, celebrated businessman and popular international speaker, Vusi Thembekwayo’s impressive CV would make any professional proud. It’s hard to believe that Vusi, who grew up in Wattville township near Benoni, is only 31 years old.

MTN has appointed Adekunle Awobodu (pictured) as its new MTN Nigeria (MTNN) CFO. Awobodu, the first Nigerian to occupy this position, takes over from Ferdi Moolman, who became CEO of the company in December last year. Moolman was quoted in the media as saying:

Do you have what it takes to be the new chief financial officer at The University of Witwatersrand (Wits)? CFO South Africa helps companies and organisations find the right finance executive! See the full advert below.

The ink is dry. The deal is done. You have just successfully completed an M&A transaction. The question is: what now? At our CFO event on 21 July 2016 at the African Pride Melrose Arch Hotel we will unpack how to go about integration or separation after a deal under the theme ‘Where the rubber meets the road’. An incredible lineup of top five CFOs will help us unpack what needs to happen after a merger, acquisition or sale.

“I was not prepared to make a speech but thank you for the kind words and thank you for the award. I retired [from Remgro] at the end of March so it’s also for me a cherry on the cake at the end of my career,” said Leon Crouse, on receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the CFO Awards 2016, held on 12 May at the beautiful Summer Place. Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, chancellor of the University of Pretoria, South Africa’s first black chartered accountant and role model for many finance professionals, presented Leon with his award.

Following the unexpected resignation of Jimi Matthews on 28 June, the SABC has appointed its CFO, Ugandan accountant and auditor James Aguma (pictured), as acting CEO.

"We want to show the accounting world and finance professionals is that QuickBooks as a brand and a product has the range available to satisfy the financial needs of start-ups, SMEs and growing businesses," says Nick Braxton, national sales manager of QuickBooks SA, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The British withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit) would very possibly have an effect on South African businesses, although some industries will be harder hit than others – and some might see opportunities. “Personally I don’t think Brexit is a good thing,” says Robert Katz, CFO of wealth and asset management firm Peregrine Group. “South Africa is a risk-on economy. That means that when there are global jitters, South African stocks get sold off and the rand comes under pressure.”

Acting CEO Jimi Matthews (pictured) has resigned from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), calling recent changes at the broadcaster “wrong” and saying that he has compromised his values under the current leadership. Matthews posted a picture of his resignation letter on Twitter yesterday morning (below). It read in part:

“For me, being a successful CFO is not even technical; it’s about being humble. The role can go to your head and that creates drama,” says Lauren Van Zyl, Divisional CFO of Eqstra Fleet Management and Logistics. “Being humble makes you approachable, and the more approachable you are the more likely staff will be to come to you if there’s a problem, and that’s important.” Lauren, who pursued a career in finance after convincing herself she would never be interested in the industry, heads up a team of 45 staff members, and says the people aspect of the job is as rewarding as it is challenging. “That’s what nobody prepares you for. As a finance person, you’re very comfortable with the numbers, with the technical, but you aren’t comfortable with having so many people report to you, trust you and rely on you.” How did you first get into finance and how did you come to be a CFO? “At school, one of my main subjects was speech and drama. I was convinced I was never going to go into finance. When choosing my studies, I first registered for industrial psychology, but I didn’t even make it through one lecture and realised that wasn’t going to work. I changed my degree and went into Informatics. I was doing really well but realised I didn’t have a passion for it – it didn’t gel with me. I found my way to finance and thought I’d pursue general finance, believing there was no chance I’d do a CA. But at that moment I realised I would be stopping just before the finish line, so I decided to go the whole hog and completed my B.Com (Accounting) Honours, and then my articles through Deloitte. After my articles I stayed on for a short period, but I decided I wasn’t audit manager material. I was battling with the concept of siting across the table from a CFO and telling him how to run his business when I didn’t know what it was like to be in his position. I wanted to be able to give a CFO advice based on my own experiences. I felt like I needed that foundation.”

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.

Naspers has reported in its recently release full-year results that its core headline earnings were up 21% to $1.2 billion. The company said that it regards core headline earnings as its best indicator of sustainable earnings. Interestingly, some 77% of its revenues were generated outside South Africa.

“Taking advantage of opportunities requires more creative thinking than simple analysis of data,” says risk actuary Stefan Swanepoel, the principal consultant for Directrix Risk Services, an actuarial and corporate risk management consultancy specialising in the pricing, financing and control of risks. Swanepoel has more than 13 years of experience in this field and currently consults to many of the largest South African companies, as well as many large international corporates. A fellow of the Institute of Risk Management and the Actuarial Society of South Africa, Swanepoel followed his father, a state actuary, into the profession after serving time in the military. He spoke to us about the impact of Big Data, risk management, the changing climate in South Africa and how it compares to foreign nations.

It is becoming increasingly common for shareholders, employees, customers and members of the public to want to know that an entity’s tax affairs are compliant and that they meet a standard which is beyond reproach. As such, boards of companies are having to think harder about how they can discharge their responsibilities to govern their entities’ tax affairs.

John Tombleson (pictured), Kenyan operator Safaricom's CFO, is due to exit the company after a five-year stint.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), will be joining forces to create a new association which will represent the breadth of the accounting profession and 600,000 current and next-generation professionals. Andrew Miskin (pictured), CIMA’s President said:

How can FinTech companies help millions of Africans get access to financial services? And what should FinTech entrepreneurs do to build viable, money-making businesses out of this? Those were some of the key questions during a spectacular FinTech Africa event at 23 June 2016, hosted at the beautiful Woodmead offices of Deloitte South Africa and co-sponsored by WeChat, the company that invented the increasingly popular social communications app.

What is your favourite FinTech company? Head to www.fintech-africa.com and cast your vote for the African FinTech Awards 2016! Help Africa prosper and support the development of new and innovative financial services and boost financial inclusion. This is your chance to be part of the process and determine which company is the hottest prospect in the FinTech scene in 2016.

CFO South Africa MD Graham Fehrsen was recently invited to sit in on a monthly meeting of the senior finance leaders from one of South Africa’s largest financial services providers. In this monthly meeting, arranged by the CFO, the senior team gets insight from an expert or leader from outside the business - on this occasion Zaf Mahomed (pictured), CFO of McDonald’s South Africa, who shared some of his experience and insights from his time as the CFO of Ellerines.

“It is important to understand that the wellness component and the health component are not the same thing and it’s not just a tick the box exercise,” said Jo Pohl, chief financial officer at Telesure Group. Jo was speaking at the event on 22 June 2016, where CFOs discussed effective workforce health and wellness strategies to drive the bottom line.

“Just being recognised as CFOs is great, along with the fact that we are making an impact in the business community. I would like to thank CFO South Africa and the sponsors for this event," said Christine Ramon, CFO of AngloGold Ashanti, on receiving this year’s Finance and Technology Award at the CFO Awards 2016, held on 12 May at the stunning Summer Place. Pictured right: Christine Ramon with Kholiwe Makhohliso (Oracle) Christine was joined at the awards by her three CA siblings: Justine Mazzocco (exco member Deloitte), Veran Kathan (CFO Vodacom Business Africa) and Mark Kathan (CFO AECI), the latter a nominee of the CFO Awards in both 2015 and 2016.

“Businesses and specifically financial professionals need to understand their own business processes enough to evaluate systems and their ability replace or integrate with existing processes, and we are able to assist them with this,” says Marius Fabian, the CEO of SAP ERP solutions provider 4most, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

“Sometimes we change just for the sake of changing, without understanding the drivers bringing about that change. But in order to deal with any change situation, you need to understand the reasons behind the change,” said Dumisani Ntombela, Academic Director at Worldsview Academy and an independent organisational development and strategic human resources management professional.

MTN has announced that Rob Shuter (pictured), headhunted from Vodacom’s UK parent, Vodafone, has been appointed new CEO. Shuter will also be MTN’s group president.

CFOs are business partners across multiple business functions – an attribute of the role that has evolved the most in the last decade or so, opines Udayan Sen, CFO of BP Southern Africa. He says: “The once maligned bean counters are now businessmen and women, who by the way also happen to be the head of the finance function. Almost to say, if there was a tag line to describe CFOs, it would say: ‘We also have Finance accountability’. In BP, the CFO is the co-pilot, and supports the CEO to run the business."

Allianz Risk Transfer AG (ART) and Nephila Capital Limited (Nephila) have successfully piloted the use of blockchain smart contract technology for transacting a natural catastrophe swap. The test demonstrates that transactional processing and settlement between insurers and investors can be significantly accelerated and simplified by blockchain-based contracts. It also points to other benefits such as increased tradability of cat bonds and wider opportunities to apply this technology in other insurance transactions. Richard Boyd, Bermuda-based Chief Underwriting Officer of ART, said:

How do you really view your employees, asks Derek Brown of Abaco Consulting? As a problematic high and fixed cost to the business or as the business’s biggest and most competitive asset? The dichotomy, he says, is that they are of course both at the same time. By Derek Brown, Abaco Consulting On the one hand, your employees represent one of your single largest fixed costs, and there is continual pressure to reduce that cost by reducing head counts, increasing productivity, the deployment of automation, robotising, process re-engineering, Lean, Six Sigma and Agile initiatives, and if all else fails, the outsourcing of operating functions. Yet, we often proclaim that our people are the differentiator for our company in the marketplace and that they are the company’s greatest single asset in our competition for business. So how do we reconcile these two potentially conflicting viewpoints?

Vodacom, SA’s largest mobile services provider, recently published its annual report. And in that report were details of its executives’ remuneration. According to the document, CEO Shameel Joosub (pictured) earned just shy of R21.8 million in the 12 months through March 2016. His base salary was listed as R7.82 million, with the balance of R13.98 million attributed to a short-term incentive bonus, itself linked to revenue, cash flows, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation. This is double what the CEO was paid in the last financial year (R10.9 million, comprised of a base salary of R7.2 million and a bonus of R3.7 million), and also excludes benefits and long-term incentives.

Kenya's privately owned Plum LLP has announced plans to buy a 23.34% stake in Britam, a diversified financial group listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The transaction will raise Plum's shareholding in the company to 38.54%. According to Plum, the acquisition is aimed at driving Britam's future growth. Britam currently has operations in Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan Tanzania, and Uganda, and offers a wide range of financial products and services in insurance, asset management, banking and property. According to Reuters, the government of Mauritius seized Britam from a disgraced businessman, Dawood Rawat, in April last year, after accusing him of running a Ponzi-like scheme through a Mauritian insurer. Rawat has since filed a case against the government of Mauritius, before the International Court of Arbitration, asking for $1 billion in compensation. His claim is on the basis of illegal appropriation of Britam by the state.

What started as a simple idea to extend the learning and networking of the CFO South Africa community has reached a real tipping point with the recent addition of Oracle and SAP to the list of exceptional exhibitors that will be present at the Finance Indaba Africa, which will be held on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Gauteng.

No matter what the question is, in Sneha Shah’s world, the answer always starts with the same two words: the customer. In an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa, the charismatic Africa MD of Thomson Reuters speaks about her time in New York, the challenges facing modern CFOs and about her drive to help transform Africa’s aid-based economies into knowledge-based economies. Most of the successful projects Sneha has run, delivered because of a firm focus on customers. “For me, the customer is a passion,” Kenyan-born Sneha Sanghrajka Shah reflects. “Too many companies start with their products and ideas, risking irrelevance when the customer needs change. You cannot afford to lose sight of the customer, so my team starts with the customer every day. Even HR, which many organisations would see as a back-office role, has customer-facing targets to meet.” The same rules apply for CFOs, says Sneha, as “they have had to become more customer focused in order to be able to manage the increasing burden of regulation and risk. But overall, there is a trend globally where CFOs are becoming much more market-aware and client-facing. CEOs are becoming less of the singular face to the market and more like coaches to a strong business focused leadership team, and this has led to CFOs and other C-Level roles evolving accordingly.” Reuters has had news reporters in South Africa since the 1860s, and the finance business here started in the 1980s. The name has become synonymous with FX trading across the continent, but Thomson Reuters actually does much more, across a variety of industries and customer segments. “For a global information company with strong roots on the continent, we definitely need to do a better job of sharing who we are and what we do,” says Sneha, as she lists the range of Thomson Reuters services that can benefit businesses and their CFOs. The firm brands itself as ‘the answer company’ and combines news, broad and deep content and industry expertise with innovative technology to provide information to decision-makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets.

According to the World Bank, investment and capital inflows into Sub-Saharan Africa will continue to slow down as European banks begin looking to Asia for lending activities.This will be further compounded by low commodity prices and worsening economic conditions, as well as currency depreciation in key markets and increasing political tension. The World Bank, in its Global Economic Prospects: Divergences and Risks June 2016 report, said:

“I’m speechless,” said Olam International CFO Bikash Prasad when presented with the award for Moving into Africa at this year’s CFO Awards 2016, held on 12 May at the beautifully bedecked Summer Place.

The 14th of June 2016 marked a first for CFO South Africa as MD Graham Fehrsen hosted a lively dinner with finance leaders in Durban at the impeccable Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga. Although the bright lights of KwaZulu-Natal may not be quite those of Gauteng, the province is home to a number of significant multinationals and leading corporates. This dinner attracted finance professionals from Olam, Tiger Brands, Mondi, Illovo Sugar and ARB Holdings.

Nico Bezuidenhout (pictured), currently CEO of Mango, South African Airways' low-cost subsidiary, has been appointed CEO and executive director of fastjet, effective 1 August 2016. Colin Child, fastjet chair, welcomes Bezuidenhout’s appointment. He was quoted in the media as saying:

"Clients will need to be preparing for increased tax reporting obligations as well as gathering information to be able to comply with new and revised accounting standards in 2016,” says Gary Kartsounis, a partner at financial services firm Crowe Horwath, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Graham Fehrsen, CFO South Africa MD, has spent the last few weeks visiting several of this year’s CFO Awards winners to deliver personalised CFO Awards. He shares the experience with us.

“I ask a lot of questions; even those I feel I don’t need to understand. We have all travelled different journeys, so everyone I meet, I try to understand what helped them get to where they are and, given the opportunity hypothetically, how I could help them,” says Thabiso Hermanus, CFO of the LSC Group, a subsidiary of Imperial Logistics.

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.