From a young age, Cell C CFO El Kope was inspired by those around her and knew she wanted to work in a field where she could help people grow, drive business success and contribute to the economy.
Growing up, she was passionate about committing to an adventurous career that involved engaging with others and impacting people’s lives.
El’s parents are her greatest inspirations, with her father playing a significant role in shaping her career. “I am a daddy’s girl, and he was an accountant, so it was a natural progression for me to do what he did,” she shares.
El completed her BCom in accounting at the University of Witwatersrand and her honours at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She made learning an integral part of her journey, focusing on developing her knowledge of the economics of each business she pursued.
In her 10 years of serving in senior finance management positions, El has worked for numerous global corporations, including Tsebo, DHL, South African Breweries and Coca-Cola Africa. She is currently working at Cell C and has been a strong leader in shaping the company over the past two years.
Her career at Cell C began in October 2022, when she joined as head of financial planning and analysis. Her great financial acumen and leadership qualities were soon recognised, and when former CFO Lerato Pule decided to resign in August 2023, El became the acting CFO. In March of this year, she was officially appointed as CFO.
Since El’s employment in the CFO seat, she has met numerous key milestones, including significantly improving governance frameworks and implementing the necessary financial procedures to support business growth.
“I remain an enabler and protector of the business. I stay up to date on key changes in legislation and industry, and use that to support the business to deliver its objectives,” she says.
Knowledge and improvement
El views herself as an adaptable individual who is eager to keep learning new things in both her career and personal life. Every quarter, she enrols in an online course on a topic that interests her; at the moment she is completing a data analytics course.
“Continuous learning is a way of life. I believe we are permanently learning, unlearning, and rebasing certain things learnt all the time,” she says. “For me, continuous learning is not just formal learning – it is also exposing yourself to spheres outside your norm.”
She admits that her current biggest challenge is acquiring the necessary skills for her team to remain competitive in this demanding environment. She is focused on building expertise in managing and analysing large data sets within her finance team.
“By focusing on upskilling and providing opportunities for exposure, we can empower our team to adapt, innovate and thrive,” she says. El and her team are also committed to helping others learn how to improve themselves through private coaching and mentoring, as well as by identifying and developing new talent and skills.
“As a business, we believe in future-proofing the entity with relevant skills. Cell C has a graduate programme and we have successfully placed a number of our graduates in roles within the business, post the completion of their programme. Our teams are also multiskilled through participating in stretch assignments and group wide strategic projects.”
An open work culture
El prefers to strike a balance as a leader, choosing to rotate between taking the lead in certain projects and letting her teammates lead her in others. “I believe in leading from the middle, where I can freely alternate between coaching, supporting, handholding, educating or reassigning,” she shares.
As someone part of the CFO community, El understands the critical role she must play in modelling ethical behaviour and enforcing an open work culture.
“I believe we, as finance, are integral in the ethical culture of the business. All transactions done by the business are transacted via the wider finance team, so it’s imperative that we review and analyse things objectively and report items timeously and transparently.”
El’s life as a CFO is not her only passion, though; when she isn't working, she is running and travelling, and finds time to relax by listening to music and spending time with her family and friends. She believes that her incredible support system, which includes her devoted husband and doting mom, has played an important role in helping her grow and achieve all her life goals.
