From humble beginnings in Mamelodi to boardrooms shaping South Africa’s renewable clean energy future, African Rainbow Energy CFO Nakedi Ramaphakela has carved out a career defined by resilience, vision, and purpose.
For Nakedi Ramaphakela, numbers have always been more than just figures on a spreadsheet. They have been tools to unlock possibility, to build credibility, and to create long-term impact. Yet her story is also deeply personal, rooted in childhood experiences of struggle and responsibility.
“I think I’ve always been driven by fear and trauma of growing up in the township and wanting a different life for myself. I never wanted to find myself in that situation again, watching my parents struggle with things like school fees. That fear and trauma fuelled me to make something of myself,” she says.
As the eldest child, Nakedi shouldered responsibility early on and was always the one carrying everything, which is what shaped her work ethic. And for her one doesn’t even think about it, one just needs to step up.
This combination of drive and resilience has defined her professional trajectory, from completing her articles at PwC, to becoming finance director at Royal Bafokeng Holdings by the age of 28, to now steering African Rainbow Energy’s finances and growth ambitions.
Like many chartered accountants, her professional journey began at PwC, where she completed her articles before moving into senior associate and assistant manager roles. The firm gave her more than just technical grounding.
A solid foundation
“PwC was a good solid foundation for me. It taught me how to quickly understand a business, even when I knew nothing about it. It also gave me technical depth in accounting, tax and reporting specialities,” she says.
Her secondment to Houston, Texas, further broadened her perspective, which she describes as a great opportunity to see how things are done globally.
“It also emphasised that South African work ethic and skills are world class. We were highly regarded for our capabilities,” she recalls.
Still, she knew an audit would never be her long-term home. “Audit was never the goal. I didn’t want to check things and tell people what they did wrong. I wanted to be on the side of problem solving and implementing solutions.”
In 2012, she joined Royal Bafokeng Holdings, an investment company often mistaken as purely mining-focused. Starting as group reporting manager, she rose steadily to group finance manager, and in 2016, was appointed finance director, a rare achievement for someone barely into their late twenties.
“It was a huge milestone for me. At 28, sitting on the board, leading finance, IT, HR, and being a broader leader. The board was much older than me, and I had to grow into that role very quickly,” she says.
Survival mode
She describes that period as survival mode and when she looks back, she realises it was a lot of emotional maturity that was required and explained that dealing with senior board members, older colleagues reporting to her, and all the while navigating imposter syndrome, was a challenge she experienced.
“What helped was mentorship. I leant on my former bosses, and I also learnt the importance of building one-on-one relationships with board members. That kept me ahead of difficult conversations,” she says.
Beyond technical and leadership growth, her years at Royal Bafokeng gave her strong exposure to investment strategy. “Royal Bafokeng was diversified. My background there became more about investing , asset management and technical accounting and tax expertise. Those skills have been very transferable to what I do now.”
In 2019, she accepted the CFO role at Masimong Group Holdings, a family-owned investment office. The experience was short-lived.
“It wasn’t really a good fit for me,” she admits candidly. After about 15 months, she stepped down, taking time to consult and reflect before her next big move.
That next move came in September 2021, when she joined African Rainbow Energy, launched by African Rainbow Energy and Power and Absa Bank as its founding CFO.
“It felt like a start-up. There were no systems, no team. I had to do everything myself initially, from spreadsheets to policies, to building a finance team, to corporatising the business – a journey that still continues.”
She explains that the African Rainbow Energy invests with partners in large-scale renewable energy projects, solar, wind, biomass, and battery energy storage, with investments in assets being more than 1.1 gigawatts across South Africa.
“We partner with developers and other investors. Our strategy has shifted, now taking larger strategic stakes and partnering to develop, manage and operate the projects,” she explains.
The ambition is bold, with their vision being to build an African energy champion.
“Essentially, a modern utility-scale clean energy company that makes energy affordable and accessible across the continent. Right now we’re focused on South Africa, but long-term, the goal is to expand outside of South Africa,” she adds.
The CFO beyond compliance
At the African Rainbow Energy, Ramaphakela has found her role extends far beyond the stereotypical CFO box of compliance and reporting.
“Yes, financial statements and compliance are part of my duties. But here, capital raising is just as critical, and that falls on me as CFO,” she explains.
She explains that the African Rainbow Energy has already attracted investment from Absa and is in the final stages of bringing in another large institutional investor. “Funding for infrastructure projects is very specialist. It’s different from corporate finance. That’s been a steep learning curve, but also incredibly rewarding.”
Securing long-term funding, she says, is a game-changer. “It de-risks the business, reduces debt levels, and places us on a completely different growth trajectory.”
Milestones and lessons along the way
Looking back, Ramaphakela highlights several defining milestones, including when she became finance director at 28. “It was daunting, but it pushed me to grow fast. It gave me board and executive experience very early in my career.”
Growing the African Rainbow Energy business has been a huge achievement and for her, capital raising success, because closing the next round of funding will be one of the biggest milestones of her career.
“Working abroad reinforced that our South African talent is globally competitive.Each experience added another layer of depth and at Royal Bafokeng, I built breadth across sectors. At African Rainbow Energy, I’ve gained depth in energy, project finance, and capital markets. Today, I think far more commercially and strategically than I did before,” she says.
Advice to young professionals
Her early rise to leadership offers lessons for younger professionals eager to accelerate their careers.
“I never got there saying, ‘I want to be a finance director by 28’. I just saw gaps and filled them. I added value wherever I could,” she says.
She cautions against chasing titles. “Your bosses notice when you solve problems. I stepped in when others resigned, and I did the work without asking for extra pay. Bloom where you’re planted and results will come. And yes, there’s always an element of luck, being in the right place at the right time.”
Outside the boardroom, Ramaphakela’s world is full, and is sometimes chaotic. She is married with four daughters, aged 12 to two.
“I don’t believe in balance,” she says with a smile. “It’s impossible to balance perfectly. For me, it starts with health, sleeping, eating well, exercising. Without those foundations, everything else crumbles.”
She’s grateful for support systems coming from her husband, mom, sisters, a live-in nanny, an au pair, even other moms at her kids’ schools, a whole community, which she says helps her not face her journey alone.
With her daughters, she navigates everything from social media battles to skincare demands. “We fight a lot about YouTube and Instagram,” she laughs. “But it’s also serious, educating them about online dangers, resilience and self-defence.”
Creativity provides a counterbalance to finance and when she is not working, she doesn’t want anything to do with numbers and spends her time painting, drawing and exploring interior décor. She says these activities help her exercise another part of herself.
Building a legacy
As she approaches her fifth year at African Rainbow Energy, Nakedi reflects on the legacy she hopes to leave.
“Initially, my goal was to build my own commercial acumen. But once I was here, I realised the environment allowed me to make a greater impact. Growing the business, leading the capital raise, building something from scratch, that’s the legacy I want to leave. To show that we created value, that we built a credible, sustainable clean energy company.”
For her, it’s about more than business metrics. It’s about demonstrating that women, young leaders and South Africans can shape the continent’s future energy story.
The future of African Rainbow Energy is tied to South Africa’s pressing need for energy security and the global shift towards clean energy. Nakedi is clear-eyed about the challenges, but equally determined.
“We’re taking one step at a time. Ultimately, we want to make clean energy affordable and accessible across Africa. But for now, we’re building a strong foundation in South Africa. That’s the mission,” she says.
