CFO South Africa Newsletter | Thursday 3 December Dear CFO South Africa Member, Read Exclusive CFO South Africa Articles From private equity to leadership... Mpact CFO Brett Clark It is tempting as a CFO to get involved in every urgent issue affecting the business, because finance encompasses so many parts of the business," says Brett Clark, the CFO of Mpact and one of the nominees of the 2015 CFO of the Year Awards. “However, I believe a good CFO needs to create the time to analyse the information available in the business, visit the operations, debate issues with team members and focus on the key areas affecting the business.” Neotel CFO Steven Whiley resigns Steven Whiley, the CFO of fixed-line telecommunications company, Neotel, has resigned. This comes in the midst of an investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption in connection with a Transnet deal worth R1.8 billion. Neotel CEO, Sunil Joshi, was also implicated, and is currently on special leave pending the outcome. Concern about upward trend in the debt-to-GDP ratio Speaking at this year's Tax Indaba at the Sandton Convention Centre, the chief of the National Treasury’s Budget Office, Michael Sachs, said he was troubled by the upward trend in the debt-to-GDP ratio of 42.5%. While the figure itself was not sufficient cause to resort to emergency measures – it is still low in comparison to many other countries – the structural debt gap could lead South Africa into permanent low economic growth. Read more exclusive articles on CFO.co.za - SA narrowly escapes recession - Old Mutual now holds 100% of African Infrastructure Investment Mana... - Leslie Maasdorp CFO of Brics New Development Bank - Eskom declares 22% profit for H1 - Oracle's Andrew Sutherland on the cloud: disrupt, transform & c... - China Resources to buy SABMiller's Snow beer stake RSVP CFO Event "Get Smart in 2016" Tuesday 23 February 16.00 - 20.00 - Johannesburg We invite you to join us for the CFO South Africa event Get Smart in 2016 - Move like a butterfly - sting like a bee. How can we improve the agility and resilience of your organisation in volatile and uncertain times? How do you create flexibility and ensure your scarce resources are allocated to the most critical tasks? Do you sometimes wish you could be as fast and flexible as a startup? Without losing the strength and stability of a well established corporate? Let’s investigate and discuss if and how we can make this possible! The answer should be somewhere in the way we align our People, Process and Technology. Some questions to consider: Is BPO the answer to flexibility? It might offer us the solutions to time, accuracy, transparency and business partnering challenges. What about the possibilities of new technologies like cloud solutions? Or is the answer in the way we manage people? Join us as we consider the options available to CFOs in creating agile, flexible and responsive finance functions and organisations. Finance functions that are 2016 and 2017 ready and are able to deliver superior value to the business. Program 16.00 Opening & Reception 16.30 Master Class - Get Smart in 2016 Martijn is a Dutch national and an experienced international renowned speaker at CFO Forums as the CFO Awards South Africa 2015, CFO Day the Netherlands and the Public Finance Conference. He will speak about the new economy, value creation, complementary economics, networking, lifehacking, and about his ideas to make the world a better place and share his insights on social and information capital. More information about Martijn. 16.30 Round Table discussion - Get Smart in 2016 This exclusive get-together will offer you the unique opportunity to share your vision and ideas with 10 CFOs from South Africa’s top companies. Join us as we discuss how CFOs can play a more active role encouraging radical new thinking while setting the tone in their own environments? 18.00 CFO Café Interact, learn, connect and discuss the challenges that you are facing with your peers over a drink at the CFO Café. Build your network and meet other top CFOs and financials. We offer you a great afternoon of peer to peer discussions and knowledge sharing. Register here now. Sponsors CFO South Africa Event: Continuous Professional Development Points Did you know all events of CFO South Africa are eligible for SAICA CPD points? By attending CFO South Africa's events and training courses you will stay compliant. Exhibit and Speak - Finance Indaba Africa 2016 Visit the Finance Indaba 13 & 14 October at the Sandton Convention Centre and boost your profits by 100%. Finance Indaba Africa is the largest expo and conference for finance professionals. It brings together peers, advisors, technology suppliers, banks, platforms, tools, CFOs and thought leaders. Over 5,000 visitors tap into a wealth of resources, knowhow and inspiration. We are calling for speakers Are you enabling businesses to cut costs, boost sales, productivity and company profits? Then share your ideas at the Finance Indaba and help the country grow. Please contact Graham Fehrsen at [email protected] or at +27 11 083 7515. Read more about the call for speakers and see the Business Day advertisement. Diamond Sponsors Announcing the CFO Awards 2016 panel of judges CFO South Africa is currently in the process of selecting the members of the panel of judges who will choose the winners from a shortlist of nominated CFOs. With the selection of the panel of judges the importance of the CFO Awards for the business community at large is reflected. More judges will be announced on CFOAwards.co.za. The first panel members are; - Simon Ridley Group CFO Standard Bank & winner CFO of the Year 2014 - Carel Smit, Executive Committee member KPMG - Deon Viljoen, Group CFO Alexander Forbes & Winner CFO of the Year 2015 - Victor Sekese CEO SizweNtsalubaGobodo - David Fine Managing Director of McKinsey - Delphine Maïdou,CEO Allianz GCS Africa - Jonathan Lang, Practice Partner and Head of Africa Bowman Gilfillan - Christo Els, Partner Webber Wentzel - Ben Marx Vice-Chairperson Accountancy Department UJ - Claudelle von Eck, CEO The Institute of Internal Auditors SA - Brett Tromp, CFO at Discovery Health & winner Young CFO of the Year 2015 Join the CFO Awards 2016 Buy a table for the CFO Awards and meet 300 of South Africa's leading CFOs. Demonstrate thought leadership, extend your network and develop business. You are seated with CFOs and finance directors from the top companies of South Africa. You are also more than welcome to join the CFO Conference preceding the CFO Awards dinner with your colleagues. Join us Thursday 12 May 2016 at the beautiful Summer Place. Don't wait too long, first come, first served. Become a partner or attend with your finance team and buy a table here. For more information check out CFOAwards.co.za. Join the ultimate peer to peer advisory network Various CFOs and finance directors from Eskom, Nedbank, Transnet, Alexander Forbes Standard Charered Bank, Hollard, Absa, Servest, Business Connexion and Super Group are members of CFO South Africa. Your peers understand best the issues you face and the challenges that impact your business. Together you will share your experiences at CFO South Africa’s events and help you advance in your career, company and knowledge. Get introduced to experienced colleagues that are happy to share their knowledge with you. Peer-to-peer consulting is by far the best and most cost effective way to help you solve problems. Are you interested? Please see our membership page for more information here. Upcoming CFO South Africa Events Join the CFO Events with inspiring hosts and experts who will share their insights and experiences with you. Register now for these events and boost your company, network, career and knowledge. CFO South Africa Events in 2016 Feb 23 Johannesburg | Get Smart in 2016 Mar 16 Johannesburg | Moving into Africa in 2016 Apr 6 Johannesburg | Capital & Finance May 12 Johannesburg | CFO Awards 2016 Register now for one of the upcoming CFO South Africa Events. Please note that all our CFO South Africa events are for senior financial executives. CFO South Africa offers Platinum memberships to CFOs and finance directors. For more information please have a look here and contact Jurrien Morsch at [email protected]. Stay connected with CFO South Africa Follow CFO South Africa on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook Stay up to date on what is happening in the world of finance by following us on Twitter @CFOSouthAfrica, LinkedIn and Facebook. Next to that you can keep track of newly published interviews with CFOs and CEOs. Feel free to contact us Any suggestions or comments are welcome. Kind Regards, Graham Fehrsen Managing Director CFO South Africa | [email protected] To control which emails you receive from CFO South Africa, please change your email preferences at cfo.co.za by selecting under settings "I do not want to receive emails from CFO South Africa | Finance Professionals South Africa"
