Big Four firms trained him. The world tempted him. But Batsirai Pfigirai had a different calculus – one that led him to become the CFO reshaping Namibia’s postal future.
Batsirai Pfigirai, the chief financial officer of state-owned Namibian postal services company NamPost, is not just a master with numbers. He is an ardent sports enthusiast who is passionate about motor sports, particularly Formula 1.
Batsirai exudes enthusiasm during an animated conversation about his love for all things sporty. “I am not a (Lewis) Hamilton supporter,” he declares teasingly. “Outside of F1, I am also a big supporter of Arsenal in the English Premier League and Real Madrid in La Liga, though Arsenal can be agonisingly inconsistent and disappointing,” he says with an air of resignation.
Born in Zimbabwe, Batsirai says unlike many of his peers, he has always been certain about his career choice because of his love and knack for numbers. In his first semester while he was doing his first year in college, he received a scholarship from Deloitte that not only covered his study expenses and guaranteed him a place to serve his articles upon graduating, but it also offered him student roles while on vacation between semesters.
“That scholarship cemented my connection with the profession. Back then, it was not that easy to break into one of the Big Four firms and securing the scholarship signalled to me that my career path was obvious,” he says reflectively.
Batsirai passed his board exam at the first attempt, and he became eligible to be deployed on global secondments. Between 2010 and 2011 he was seconded to the United Arab Emirates and later to the United States.
New challenges
“Though these secondments enriched my career and provided me with a pathway of pursuing my career in the economic capitals of the world, I believed that I have more value to offer in Africa. This is what drove me to return to Africa and add value,” he says.
Upon returning to Deloitte in 2013, Batsirai recalls that he received an offer to relocate to Botswana or the US, but ended up joining Grand Namibia, a leading auditing and advisory firm in that country. He served in the role of senior manager for three and half years before he joined NamPost as CFO.
He joined NamPost at a time when the company was embarking on a series of audacious initiatives, from raising capital for new projects to implementing new banking systems.
“When I joined the organisation, NamPost was looking for funding to grow the micro finance business. One of my first major tasks was capital raising. We raised (locally) a facility of NAD200 million and also managed to secure an additional NAD500 million facility from foreign development financial institutions (DFIs) that we used to refinance the Bank Windhoek debt because the DFI finance was cheaper. Now we are in a good space,” he says.
Batsirai’s next challenge arrived when NamPost introduced a new banking system.
“This was a massive project and what made it even more complex was that it was introduced in the same year we launched new Visa cards to replace the closed loop cards that only limited transactions to cash withdrawals from our postal branches.”
Understanding the business
“When we introduced the new system, it required a lot of integration with our accounting systems and the back office. A system of such a scale would inevitably encounter challenges. We managed to deal with all the teething challenges and took in all the learning points,” he says.
One of the key learnings from this project was the need to have a fully functional project management office (PMO) to oversee the implementation and running of the system.
“We had a project team in place, but we didn’t have a dedicated project management office. The establishment landed on my lap. I was tasked with the establishment of the PMO which included putting all the relevant governance structures in place. In 2020, we operationalised the PMO which is running at full throttle now,” he says.
Batsirai points out that being the CFO affords him the platform to understand every aspect of the business, which comprises the traditional postal services, logistics, retail and financial services divisions.
“Behind every business unit, there is a number attached to it and if you drill down the numbers you gain an appreciation of the complexity of the business operations. As the CFO you are able to exert your influence more than any other role because you have a diverse view of the business. Secondly, the collaborative role that you play with different business units also hones your communication and people skills,” he says.
Asked about his leadership style, Batsirai says his actions are underpinned by a commitment to empower his team, but he can be tough when he needs to be.
Creating new platforms
“I ensure that I don’t take away accountability. There are times where situations demand zero democracy: when a house is burning you don’t call a meeting, it is time for action, it’s all hands on deck. My leadership style is adaptable to the demands of the situation,” he notes.
He points out that postal operators globally have had to reinvent themselves and review their business model to remain sustainable – and NamPost is no exception.
“We have diversified into financial services and logistics because the traditional core business has largely become antiquated. Now financial services make up more than 70 percent of business. We have a savings bank which is a deposit taking arm. We invest in various assets including government bonds and treasury bills, money markets, unit trusts and cross border investments. In addition we play in the micro financing and insurance spaces. That’s how we have managed to sustain ourselves,” he says.
This diversified business model has not only propped up the business but has also created a platform where employees are exposed to different industries within one organisation.
“NamPost is a unique environment that imparts experience in different industries in one organisation. Our employees can walk into a financial services company, logistics, retail, or fintech space and they will not be lost in those environments because they have been exposed to the inner workings of these industries,” he says.
Though he grew up in Zimbabwe, he says his love for Namibia runs deep. “It’s a relatively small country, but an environment that one can easily adapt to. Namibia is a very peaceful country and the people are generally nice and welcoming,” he says.
The married father of two children aged six and seven, reveals that outside his passion for motorsport and football, he loves to read, favouring books about business, politics and biographies. When he is not reading, he loves spending time with his family and going to the gym at least four times a week.
