The company has also announced the appointment of new CEO Paul Hanratty.
Sanlam has announced the appointment of Abigail Mukhuba as FD with effect from 1 October.
Abigail will be taking over from Wikus Olivier, who has been acting as the CFO since July 2019 when former FD Heinie Werth was appointed as CEO of Sanlam Emerging Markets.
About her appointment, Abigail said:
“Joining the Sanlam Group as FD is certainly an honour and it comes with significant responsibility as we work towards ensuring the organisation’s financial health to the benefit of all stakeholders. Sanlam is at an inspiring juncture in its history as it has successfully established itself as a major player in financial services – both in South Africa and its key markets. It is working towards unlocking value from existing key investments while carefully navigating its future over the medium to longer term.”
Exiting CEO Ian Kirk thanked Wikus for his “stellar contribution” as acting CFO. Wikus will remain with the company and has been appointed as the group’s CEO of Strategic Projects.
Abigail joins Sanlam from African Rainbow Minerals where she held the position of FD since 2017. She is a qualified CA(SA) with over 15 years’ experience in the financial reporting and tax specialist environment in both the automotive and mining industries.
According to a statement by the company, she is also a pioneer in her field and is a fervent supporter of women empowerment.
She has held several senior finance positions at KPMG, BMW SA and Exxaro Resources.
The group has also announced the appointment of Paul Hanratty as group CEO with effect from 1 July. Paul will be taking over from Ian, who will remain available to the organisation until the end of his five-year contract on 31 December.
He will also continue to play a role at an ASISA industry level, working with the government in addressing the challenges South Africa is faced with in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.
Paul, a qualified actuary, has served on the Sanlam board as a non-executive director since 3 April 2017. Before he was appointed to the board, he held key leadership positions at Old Mutual.
About his appointment, Paul said that leading an organisation of Sanlam’s scale is “certainly an honour” and that he looks forward to working with the exco as well as Sanlam’s various stakeholders.
Additionally, Elias Masilela has been appointed as independent non-executive chair of the Sanlam board with effect from 10 June.
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