Who will walk away with the prestigious honour of CFO of the Year 2022?

Tomorrow night (16 November), the 2022 CFO of the Year will be announced at the annual “Oscars of the finance profession” ceremony that will be taking place at the Polo Room in Inanda, Sandton.

The CFO of the Year has shown financial leadership and outstanding performance over a number of years. He or she is very involved with the strategy of the company and is a true business partner. The CFO of the Year has been the driving force behind growth and profitability and strives for excellence in all aspects of the financial profession. The CFO of the Year is leading by example and has outperformed all others based on skills, attitude and results.

The 2022 nominees are:

• Arno Daehnke, chief finance and value management officer, Standard Bank
• Ashraf Dindar, CFO, CSIR
• Boipelo Lekubo, FD, Harmony Gold
• Boitumelo Mosako, CFO, Development Bank of Southern Africa
• Bradley Wentzel, CFO, Douglasdale Dairy
• Deepa Sita, Group CFO,Tiger Brands
• Deon Smith, FD, Thungela
• Dirk Viljoen, CFO, Hollard Group
• Elmarie Maritz, CFO, Sedibelo Resources
• Julian Palliam, CFO (now CEO), Foskor
• Kagiso Lerutla, group CFO, City of Ekurhuleni
• Lerena Olivier, CFO, Pick n Pay
• Mark Stirton, CFO, Mr Price Group
• Mpolaheng Mohlopi, CFO, Lanseria International Airport
• Riaan Davel, CFO, DRDGOLD
• Risto Ketola, group FD, Momentum Metropolitan Holdings
• Sandile Ntsele, CFO, Liquid Intelligent Technologies
• Sean Doherty, CFO, Transaction Capital
• Tinyiko Sihlangu, FD, Royal Bafokeng Holdings
• Yusuf Bodiat, CFO, FEM
• Zaf Mahomed, CFO, Oceana Group (nominated for his work as the CFO of Cell C)

One of these 21 nominees will join the ranks of former CFO of the Year Award winners, but it’s important to highlight that every one of them have gone above and beyond in achieving excellence this past year.

Previous CFOs of the Year
At the first-ever CFO Awards in 2014, then Standard Bank group FD Simon Ridley won the CFO of the Year Award.

Read more: Standard Bank group FD Simon Ridley named CFO of the Year 2014

In 2015, then Alexander Forbes group CFO Deon Viljoen walked away with the title, saying: “In life, you are typically faced with two kinds of challenges: those that you voluntarily take on with all kinds of passion; and those that, forever reason, you inherit. Both of those equally inspire, albeit from different parts of your being. As you face those challenges and navigate through often tough times, you rely on the people around you to support you.”

Deon thanked his team and family, who inherited the challenges he faced in that year, and stood by his side throughout.

Read more: Alexander Forbes CFO Deon Viljoen named CFO of the Year 2015

In 2016, Woolworths FD Reeza Isaacs was named CFO of the Year. He was unable to make it to the ceremony, and his colleague, Zaid Manjra, received the Award on his behalf. “I think this is an opportune time to say the award for Reeza Isaacs is completely and utterly deserved,” he said about Reeza.

Reeza also won the Transformation & Empowerment Award that night.

Read more: Woolworths CFO Reeza Isaacs named 2016 CFO of the Year

In 2017, then Vodacom Group CFO Till Streichert received the honour, saying: “What fascinates me about finance is that, in essence, the sky's the limit. You can do pretty much anything you want – you’re in charge of looking after the accounts, you’re the steward driving the organisation’s strategy, you’re deeply involved in the operations and you can create new things. But at the end of the day, it is all about passion.”

He also received the Strategy Execution Award, as well as the Finance Transformation Award.

Read more: Vodacom CFO Till Streichert named CFO of the Year 2017

In 2018, then AngloGold Ashanti CFO Christine Ramon won the CFO of the Year Award, as well High-Performance Team, Compliance & Governance, and Moving Into Africa Awards. “I’m really grateful for the experience and the ability to evolve the finance function into being strategic partners to the business and to help grow the business.”

Read more: AngloGold Ashanti CFO Christine Ramon named CFO of the Year 2018

In 2019, then MTN CFO Ralph Mupita walked away with the prestigious title. Like many of his predecessors, he thanked his teams for the integral role they played in helping him achieve this Award, and explained that they were the ones who truly inspired him to be a great leader.

Ralph also won the Strategy Execution, the High-Performance Team, and the Finance Transformation Awards that year.

Read more: MTN CFO Ralph Mupita named CFO of the Year 2019

Absa FD Jason Quinn took home the CFO of the Year Award in 2020, saying: “2020 has been a lesson in resilience. We’ve all had curve balls and challenges thrown at us, but it's just a matter of sticking to your plans, adjusting where necessary, being resilient and tough, and just getting through it.”

Read more: Absa FD Jason Quinn named CFO of the Year 2020

In 2021, then AGSA CFO Bongi Ngoma (pictures) became the first Public Sector CFO to win the award. She also walked away with the Public Sector CFO of the Year Award and the Transformation & Empowerment Award. “I want to dedicate this to all the CFOs out there who excel in what they do, especially those in the public sector. It’s not easy to operate in a public environment.”

Read more: The Auditor General’s Bongi Ngoma named CFO of the Year 2021 in a first for the public sector