“When I came on board the staff were demotivated and unproductive. There was no teamwork and they did not trust in each other. It was a disaster,” says Brigid Mosola, CFO of Walter Sisulu University (WSU). In this exclusive interview with CFO South Africa, Brigid, who has been CFO for around 18 months, and who was recently placed on a precautionary suspension by the University’s new Vice Chancellor pending charges, speaks candidly about the state of the university’s finance department, the challenges of restructuring and building staff morale, and making unpopular decisions.

"Over 8,8 million South Africans have fallen prey to some form of cyber-crime, of which identity theft forms a significant enough part of this to consider it a serous threat" says Brennan Wright, marketing manager of This Is Me, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

4 Africa Exchange (4AX) announced on Friday, 2 September that it had been granted an exchange licence by the Financial Services Board (FSB) to become a licensed exchange in South Africa. On this same day ZAR X also received its exchange licence. Speaking on the matter, 4AX CEO Fay Mukaddam (pictured) said the company was “delighted” to have secured its licence. Mukaddam said:

The strategic evolution is a a development path built on choices about what is best for the business in the long term rather than on immediate changes that may be detrimental further down the line. In this Expert Insight, Sarah George, ERP & EPM Business Development and Product Strategy, Oracle South Africa, explores the speed of business transformation and the role that agile technologies play.

We believe we have the formula for the right balance that allows you to empower business with self-service whilst ensuring strength and trust for IT." says Davide Hanan, chairperson of QlikView SA, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Listed fast food giant Famous Brands, which owns fast food outlets Steers, Debonairs and Fish Aways, among others, has purchased Britain’s Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), founded in 2001 and currently the UK’s leading premium burger restaurant, for R2.1 billion (£120 million at the time). According to Famous Brands, it intends to double the burger chain’s 75 British stores over the next five years. Kevin Hedderwick (pictured), Famous Brands group adviser for M&A and previously CEO, said he sees GBK opening 10 to 15 new restaurants in Britain per year. He added that the company intends to expand further in Ireland, and also bring the gourmet burger concept to South Africa. The transaction remains subject to approval from the SA Reserve Bank, in terms of exchange-control regulations, although Famous Brands has said it will fund the purchase consideration with cash accumulated in its business operations, as well as short-term funding as required. It was agreed in the contract that GBK’s team would continue to manage the business, and that no personnel changes are likely to take place. The acquisition is rated according to the JSE Listings Requirements as a Category 2 transaction.

ZAR X, South Africa’s newest stock exchange, was yesterday granted a licence to operate by the Financial Services Board (FSB), following recent delays. ZAR X will commence operations on Monday, 5 September 2016.

PPC chief financial officer Tryphosa Ramano has been named deputy chairperson of South African Airways (SAA) and will work closely with chairperson Dudu Myeni, the political ally of president Jacob Zuma who was re-appointed in her role on Friday. In 2014 Ramano won a power struggle with CEO Ketso Gordhan, the nephew of finance minister Pravin Gordhan, widely reported to be at odds with Zuma.

According to SARS, South Africa's trade surplus shrank to R5.22 billion ($359 million) in July, compared to a revised surplus of R12.47 billion in June. Exports decreased 9% to R95.7 billion on a month-on-month basis, and imports fell 2.4% to R90.5 billion.

It seems obvious. Ask the right questions about your business needs and the analytics solutions are going to be fairly apparent. And yet the complexities of modern businesses make this simple and obvious approach more challenging than expected.

"As the leading treasury system solution provider with more than 40 implementations, our expertise will help any CFO who needs cash visibility, automation of daily treasury activities, risk management and segregation of duties," says Rudolf Janse van Rensburg, a director at TreasuryOne, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Futuregrowth Asset Management this week took an unprecedented decision to stop negotiations on more than R1.8 billion in debt finance to several state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

"BlackLine’s Finance Controls and Automation platform delivers a fresh approach that increases the quality, accuracy, and efficiency of the financial close and other period-end activity is what BlackLine calls ‘Continuous Accounting’," says Mario Spanicciati, chief strategy officer of BlackLine, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The University of Limpopo (UL) has gained accreditation for its postgraduate degree in accounting, effective January 2017. This, together with the undergraduate accreditation UL achieved in 2011, means the province’s aspiring CAs (SA) will now be able to complete their full four years of studies at the institution.

How can public sector CFOs benefit from technology and help government work smarter? That is the central question during the public sector CFO breakfast at Castello Di Monte in Pretoria on 13 September 2016. "CFOs are invited to extend the invitation to their CIO," says CFO South Africa MD Graham Fehrsen. "That means we're doubling the learning!"

"We will outline the most impactful tactics for optimising working capital and maximising discounts and we will review various sources of liquidity available to suppliers and buyers," says Christo Jacobs, director of Intellection, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Following a six-month search to find a replacement for CEO Edward Kieswetter, who left the group in February to pursue other interests, Alexander Forbes has appointed financial services veteran Andrew Darfoor (pictured). Darfoor will assume the role of CEO from 1 September, relieving acting group CEO and CFO, Deon Viljoen.

Clever implementation of modern technology can bring massive benefits to companies and is often the difference between bust or boom. During CFO South Africa’s annual Digital Transformation Breakfast on 15 September 2016 (7h00) we tap into the incredible experience of CFOs Christine Ramon (AngloGold Ashanti) and Wayne Koonin (Omnia) to explore the risks and opportunities a tech savvy finance team can create.

The appointment of Nkonki as joint auditor of Telkom is "a major step towards transforming the South African auditing profession", says managing partner Mitesh Patel in an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa. Last week Telkom shareholders approved Nkonki's appointment as external auditors with EY.

"It is clear that the techniques for detecting trends, and better predictions using Big Data, haven't as yet been mastered," says Chris Kamffer, director of Profectus Africa, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Technological advances are disrupting the status quo and creating huge turbulences. Businesses are converging and unforeseen competitors are emerging. It is all about creating disruption and staying ahead of the curve, which is rising at a rapid pace. And amid all this change, CFOs still need to create profits for their enterprises, writes Leslie Moodley, managing partner Global Business Services, IBM South Africa.

Massmart, operator of brands including Game, Makro, DionWired and Builders Warehouse, among others, is unlikely to see increased sales until consumer confidence and spending in South Africa picks up. Massmart recently posted group operating profit growth of 19.2% (to R791.9 million), on the back of an increase of 8.7% in sales (to R42 billion) for the first-half of the year. The company’s gross margins came in at 19.3%, compared to 18.9% in the previous period. The group is divided into four divisions: Massdiscounters, Masswarehouse, Massbuild and Masscash. It’s the Massbuild division, which operates the Builders Warehouse retail arm, that is really feeling the squeeze. Massbuild grew total sales by 5.8%, while comparable sales grew by just 0.8% – worrying for a division that has historically performed very well. According to Massmart CEO Guy Hayward, (pictured) while Massmart intends to open 30 new stores in South Africa and another five in its African operations over the next two years, the remainder of 2016 won’t be easy.

Following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s (pictured) signing of a law capping the interest rates lenders can charge on loans, shares of Kenyan banks have plunged. According to reports, Kenyatta signed the law in sympathy with Kenyans frustrated by the cost of credit and poor savings rates. KCB Group Ltd., the country’s largest bank by assets, slumped the most, dropping to its lowest level since December 2012, while Cooperative Bank Ltd. plummeted the most on record. Equity Group Holdings Ltd., the market leader in terms of value, saw the biggest one-day decline in seven years. According to Bloomberg, after the stock market closed on Wednesday 24 August, Kenyatta announced that he’d agreed to changes to the Banking Act, requiring that lenders peg credit costs at 400 basis points above the benchmark central bank rate. The law also requires financial institutions to pay interest of a minimum of 70% of the CBR on deposits.

Rhino Resources, a global energy company, has announced the addition of London-based CFO Rob Tims to its leadership team. Tims, a 25-year veteran of the oil and gas industry and whose experience spans operations, finance, banking and consulting, has for the past 10 years, served as Managing Director with responsibility for Africa at Standard Chartered Bank. Patrick Mulligan, Rhino Resources President and CEO, said of Tims’ appointment:

Since Trevor Hoole joined KPMG in 1975 he has witnessed the change in CFOs from “the traditional bespectacled back-office-person” to the modern money boss of today. We asked the CEO of our principal partner what it takes to be a successful finance leader in a world of change, big data, volatility, risks and cybersecurity. Here are Trevor’s insights summarised in nine burnings topics.

“We can help professionals by centralising procurement, simplifying ordering, improving efficiency, reducing costs and securing pricing, sourcing and qualifying new suppliers with ease and managing BEE, contract and all other documents online,” says Brett Cunnington, marketing director of ManageIt, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

"Professionals worldwide are opting to work in smaller groups in which the members have complementary skillsets. This is something they can do with a group like The Finance Team,” says Grant Robson, MD of The Finance Team, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The Chinese currency renminbi (RMB) now accounts for more than 30 percent of payments between South Africa and China. According to recent SWIFT data, the number of South Africa’s renminbi payments increased by a staggering 191 percent over the last two years.

Nombali Mbambo has been appointed as an executive director and CFO of Adapt IT, effective 18 August 2016. Mbambo, a CA, completed her articles at Ernst & Young prior to joining Alexander Forbes as an accounting specialist. Thereafter, she joined the debt capital market team at ABSA Capital, later moving to the loan capital market team. Here she was responsible for originating, structuring and executing corporate loan facilities. From 2013 until she joined Adapt IT in March 2016 as CFO elect, Mbambo held the role of Finance Business Partner involved in strategic decision-making and financial management at Unilever. In her new role at Adapt IT, Mbambo’s responsibilities will include contributing to the strategic direction of Adapt IT, being accountable for the group’s finance function, involvement in mergers and acquisitions, funding and capital structuring and investor relations.

“We have to shift the lens through which CFOs look at finance transformation and make it effective by focusing on value,” says Sandra Atkins-Sadler, who joined IBM South Africa as CFO earlier this year. “I think IBM can make a difference by continuing to invest in skills training and development of future CFOs. At the same time our business solutions will make a difference to the bottom line of current CFOs.”

KPMG has joined the inaugural Finance Indaba Africa as a Diamond Partner and promises to offer a wide range of interesting and inspiring content for visitors to the much-anticipated event.

An increase in cyber attacks targeting businesses and legislative requirements like the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) have brought attention to the need for effective data governance, says Yolanda Smit, Strategic Business Intelligence Manager at PBT Group. At its heart, data governance focuses on driving enterprise data management practices to the next level of maturity, where data is being managed intentionally and not just as an afterthought. Data security and privacy management, data architecture management, data quality management, records management, business intelligence, and data operations management are all vital elements in this new discipline of management.

"AdvanceNet fills the role of trusted adviser and introduces easily implementable enhancements to help organisations embrace the opportunities that technology has to offer," says Phil Hemsley, MD of AdvanceNet, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

With October just around the corner, and along with it the finals of The CFO Case Study Competition 2016, CharterQuest has released the event programme, which covers both the semi-finals and finals to be held on 13 and 14 October respectively, and showcases the teams, the judges, the post-event activities, and the background to the competition.

In the hopes of introducing black-controlled franchise stores, Kleoss Capital Fund 1, a 100-percent-black-owned South African PE investment manager managed by Kleoss Capital, has acquired a minority stake in Real Foods, which owns the KAUAI, NÜ Health Café and Kohu brands. Hale Matsipa, Kleoss Capital CEO, has said that the company is excited about BEE transformation within Real Foods and believes there is potential to introduce black-controlled franchise stores within Kauai. Matsipa was quoted by Fin 24 as saying:

EY has announced Kumba Iron Ore Ltd as the overall winner in its fifth annual Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards for 2016. The scope of the awards included the top 100 JSE-listed companies based on market capitalisation at 31 December 2015, and top state-owned entities, which were adjudicated by the College of Accounting at the University of Cape Town. Larissa Clark (pictured), Director Professional Practice Group of Accounting at EY, said:

From the outside, the government’s Compensation Fund looks like quite a mess. Once you’re on the inside, you realised that’s wrong. It’s not just a mess, it’s one hell of a mess. In fact, it’s three or four messes all rolled into one, says Vuyo Mafata, its new Commissioner.

An exclusive online programme for tutors who teach and support students of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is now live. The programme, available free of charge and accessed through ACCA’s online Education Hub, was developed by ACCA in collaboration with BPP Professional Education, and uses BPP’s online classroom learning environment to help students progress through the ACCA qualification.

"We help simplify the IT environment so that our customers can free up money, time, and resources to invest in innovation," says Kholiwe Makhohliso, Technology and Country Leader of Oracle South Africa, a platinum partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Leading agricultural services, food processing and grain commodities company Afgri is expanding its financial services offering to the Northern Cape through a working relationship with UNIGRO Financial Services and KLK Landbou.

"AgilePam uses the latest and best web technologies to keep you connected on the cloud, where your work, information, data, files, contact information, everything, is stored safely and securely, in one place," says Leon Smith, lead software engineer at AgilePam, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

After 17 years with CIMA in Africa, Samantha Louis (pictured) has taken up a post as the CIMA Director of Advocacy, based at the CIMA headquarters in London, effective 1 August. Louis will play an active role in CIMA as the primary spokesperson and internationally recognised authority for the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and advancing the Global Management Accounting Principles (GMAPs). She will also be responsible for driving the adoption of the soon-to-be-released GMAPs self-assessment tool for business, which will leverage the world's first standard for management accounting (PAS 1919). Louis said of her move:

"Make it count. Everything I do should be positively impactful. I feel there should be a theme of constant improvement, whether that's for yourself, the business or the people around you," says Aneshree Naidoo, CFO at Deloitte Consulting. Aneshree believes strongly in the power of mentoring and peer-to-peer learning and encourages aspiring and seasoned professionals to snatch up every chance they get to grow their knowledge base and skills. "I've rolled out mentoring programmes in organisations I’ve been a part of. These programmes were initially afforded to women as part of specific diversity initiatives and then to all interested. I believe in inclusive mentoring." How did you come to pursue a career in the finance industry? "It's a simple story. I enjoyed Science and Maths at school. My career choice initially was to pursue chemical engineering. One holiday I had the opportunity to do vacation work at a well-known plant. On site, I didn't take to the daily wear of heavy boots, jumpsuits and goggles. I then tried vacation work at Ernst Young. I enjoyed it thoroughly – the client interaction, how numbers told a story. I learnt that I could use numbers to make really big, bold decisions – and I took to the corporate, professional attire. My passion for Accounting and Maths came together and I decided to become a chartered accountant." Who were or are your mentors? "I've had mentors within the group of companies I've worked for but not directly in the company I was employed at. At Avanade, I was fortunate to have a professional coach and mentor based in the UK. It is enabling to have a mentor. As you grow into various roles, you need somebody to playback ideas or challenges. I extracted value from mentoring experiences where my mentor was in a different role, industry or even company from me as the experience supplemented my skills." How important is it for leaders in the finance industry to meet peers? "It's essential. Personal interactions are energising, especially when you hear peers experiencing similar challenges to you. It's encouraging to learn of solutions that are working for others and even discover opportunities to partner in business. We’re getting better at connecting more in SA." What are your career goals? "My career goal centres on creating leadership capacity within our country. I'm driven by purposeful roles and I’m now more about supporting education, training and/or mentoring initiatives in our country rather than progressing the ‘corporate ladder’ or being defined by a job title. I am passionate about education, positively influencing it at a very early stage in a deep and significant way, enabling more South Africans to be brand ambassadors for our country and lifting SA’s global contributions." What do you most enjoy about working in finance? "I love the picture or story that gets created through numbers and that I have the ability to influence and create that story. I love that diverse people, complex processes, relationships and overall many moving parts come together in the form of financial results. I enjoy connecting these various moving parts to tell the financial story and propose and steer financial and operational excellence." What do you most enjoy about the CFO role? What do you dislike about it? "I enjoy the challenge of growing companies, especially in our current economic climate which presents new learning and evolving opportunities for business. I enjoy understanding business levers and driving change to improve business performance. There’s a new problem to solve every day. What I dislike most is when custodians of business allow self-interest to override sound business decisions. I have a fiduciary responsibility and a bigger purpose, so I challenge those behaviours." You joined Deloitte Consulting in March. What has it been like so far? "It's been going well. There are immediate operational finance topics I am steering across Africa and with the broader firm and I’ve gone through our budget and year-end process already. I’m learning about the broad array of professional services offered by Deloitte Consulting, not to mention the exciting M&A activities. I’m also the Lead Committee sponsor for Deloitte Women in Leadership Consulting, which is progressive." Prior to this you were at T-Systems South Africa. What did you achieve while there? "T-Systems is a large technology company. My notable achievements were bringing about marked efficiencies and increased effectiveness of the finance team. I strengthened team skills through hiring qualified professionals and introduced strong commercial themes of finance enabling business growth. Through innovative deal shaping and pricing, pro-active support for our internal and external customers and introducing a theme of ‘Finance gets Loud’, I brought about a cultural team change for the better. I am proud of the strong 2015 results posted, which included milestone profitability achievements. I also drove the M&A strategy. It was an exciting journey to unlock new revenue streams with different partners in the market." You are young and yet you've enjoyed great success in your career thus far. How does this make you feel, and what has been key to your success? "I'm proud, I'm excited and I’m mostly humbled. Success is not finite to me; it's continuous and evolving. I’m always energised to explore the next level. I constantly try to displace myself so I create space for new leadership capacity."

The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission, an entity of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), will tomorrow be rolling out an awareness campaign on the B-BBEE Amendment Act of 2013, spreading this message: B-BBEE should aim to achieve growth, development and enterprise development and not only the redistribution of existing wealth. The B-BBEE Amendment Act was enacted to create the B-BBEE Commission to oversee and monitor the implementation of the act, as well as to deal with the contravention thereof, and investigate fronting practices. The information sessions, which will be held at the Daveyton Community Hall in Gauteng, are intended to raise awareness and educate communities on B-BBEE and its benefits. According to Busisiwe Ngwenya, the director responsible for compliance at the B-BBEE Commission, the rationale behind the campaign is to focus on creating an economy that can meet the needs of all economic citizens and their enterprises in a sustainable manner. Ngwenya said in a statement:

Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund and South African financial services firm Old Mutual have concluded and signed agreements to set up two funds to invest in real estate and agriculture in Nigeria.

Shares in Aveng jumped more than 13% before paring gains earlier this week, after the South African construction firm said it anticipated it would halve its headline loss per share while completing loss-making contracts.

With an impressive selection of South Africa’s top finance executives in attendance, CFO South Africa’s first ever dinner event for women CFOs was a resounding success. The evening delivered fascinating insights into the power women have to bring men into conversation about the workplace, modernise views on parenting and multi-role professionals and – most importantly – be leaders by example.

Vodacom, SA’s largest mobile network, has listed its YeboYethu ordinary shares on the JSE’s BEE segment. This follows a directive from the Financial Services Board (FSB) stipulating that companies shift their over-the-counter BEE share trading to licensed stock exchanges. Shameel Joosub (pictured), Vodacom Group CEO, said in a statement:

South Africa has regained its position as Africa’s largest economy in dollar terms after being bumped to second and then third place (with Nigeria in first and Egypt in second).

“Corporate culture is the most important driver of women’s confidence in their own success. In general, corporate culture still has a preference for more masculine leadership styles, making it more challenging for women to lead,” says Inge Walters, facilitator and coach at Eve Learning, a company she founded in early 2015 and which focuses on leadership development for women.

Badibanga ‘Badi’ Promesse (pictured) was appointed Regional Director at CIMA Africa, effective 1 August. Badi has been a Strategic Account Director at CIMA since 2010, leading the region’s direct activities by managing its operations and driving both growth and strategy across Africa.

"We offer a comprehensive and holistic set of services to facilitate how finance organisations or departments provide value to their constituency and come together to deliver this value well," says Christo van Staden, head of interventions at WorldsView Academy, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

According to Reserve Bank data, South Africa’s net gold and foreign exchange reserves have risen 0.2% month-on-month, up from from $40.826 billion in June to $40.901 billion in July. The central bank further noted that gross reserves fell 0.5%, from $46.366 billion to $46.157 billion, while the forward position edged up from $1.616 billion to $1.723 billion. According to Reuters, Nedbank’s Economic Unit said:

“You have to be mindful of operating within the law at all times as a CFO in the public sector, because it’s your career on the line,” says Rendani Sadiki, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform CFO. “Colleagues may make requests that are outside the ambit of the law, but you have to explore the prescripts before you respond. You mustn’t just say no; you must bring a solution. That person might not be intentionally trying to break the law, they might just not be acquainted with those prescripts. So I rather try to advise them of their options.” The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is mandated to create and maintain equitable land dispensation and acts as a catalyst in rural development to ensure sustainable rural livelihoods, which it does through various programmes and initiatives. Rendani oversees strategic financial management within the Department – a mandate she says is quite broad. “As the financial strategist, I have to develop and implement financial strategies to manage limited resources at our disposal so that the department is able to deliver the services efficiently and effectively, and within budget.” She also oversees the governance of the Department.

Steinhoff International Holdings has agreed to buy South African discount retailer Mattress Firm Holding in a deal worth around R32.9 billion – $2.4 billion.

Business is about people. Of course it’s about profit, processes, technology, and many other things too, but ultimately it’s about people. The end buyers in all value chains are people, and the energy that drives a business is people: employees, management, owners, stakeholders. These people have needs as well as worries. A big matter on the minds of many is their family, and within this, concerns about education. An innovation turn-key, tax-friendly employee benefit product, Kinfundi, hopes to change this.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance but are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.

New South African stock exchange ZAR X, set to launch on 1 September and begin trading on 1 October this year, has had its conditional approval for a licence suspended, following a successful appeal lodged by the JSE.

Jabu Mabuza (pictured), Telkom chairperson and head of Business Unity South Africa, has been named the new chair of the African division of Anheuser-Busch InBev's (AB InBev) merged company with SABMiller. Mabuza will work with Carlos Brito, CEO, to finalise the governance and constitution of the board.

Having finally concluded the pre-conditions to the merger just recently, on 29 July, SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) seem to also have settled on a date by when the takeover process will be complete – 10 October.

“As SAICA we are very excited about the Finance Indaba Africa which will be held on 13 and 14 October 2016,” says Terence Nombembe, CEO of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). “The event is a great initiative from CFO South Africa, where we can showcase excellence and the value CAs(SA) can contribute to society.”

Packaging manufacturer Mondi has announced a rise in first-half profit of 11%, due to an increase in consumer business volumes. David Hathorn (pictured), Mondi CEO, said in a statement:

"We have become synonymous with delivering sustainable good governance in the public sector and driving continuous improvement in both our public and private sector operations," says Thandeka Zondi, strategy and business development director at SekelaXabiso, a platinum partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Leading global IT, consulting and business process services company Wipro has launched a three-year CSI project in partnership with South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to set up 29 computer labs across South Africa, benefiting 28,000 students from rural areas. Gavin Holme, Business Head, Wipro Africa, said the company is committed to building a sustainable economy in South Africa, and that Wipro will be providing a broad range of hardware, software, connectivity, education and programme management resources.

“We focus on middle- and back-office operations and it’s all about wringing efficiencies out of these operations – automating as much as possible, saving on staff costs, reducing breaks due to reconciliation problems, etc," says Mark Neethling, the GM of Financial Services at Bytes Technology Group, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but you are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.

Elize Kirsten (pictured), a Lecturer at the University of Pretoria, in the Department of Financial Management, has been chosen as the 2016 CFO Brand Ambassador in the CFO Case Study Competition, winning R10,000 in the process. One of Kirsten’s teams, Team UP 116, is in the Top 6 heading to the semi-finals at the JSE on 13 October 2016.

“The most unsettling thing for anyone is uncertainty,” says Graham McGregor, CFO of New GX Capital Holdings, a BEE investment holding company with interests in the environmental solutions, logistics, power and telecoms, and corporate finance advisory sectors. Sharing his experience, while in his previous position, of a merger that happened between two very different businesses under one umbrella company McGregor says keeping staff abreast of what was happening at all times was crucial: “Because if there’s a communication gap, people fill in the gap themselves.” He also learnt an important lesson:

Charles Tilley (pictured) has ended his 15-year tenure as CEO of CIMA, 31 July having been his last day. He has taken up a post as the part-time Executive Chairman of the newly established CGMA Research Foundation, which has a particular focus on raising the awareness and driving the adoption of the Global Management Accounting Principles.

“In every industry, ground-breaking leaps into the future are being reported on an almost daily basis. All except for one – mining. Could it be that our current world view limits the way we think about mining companies? Could we invent a more powerful, more soulful, more meaningful way to mining? I think we can,” says expert accountant Coenie Middel.

Cloud accounting software company Xero, which officially launched in South Africa in May, has appointed Colin Timmis (pictured) as its new head of accounting in SA.

Marnus Broodryk (pictured), CEO of The Beancounter, an accounting firm currently disrupting SA’s finance industry with its innovative approach, has agreed to dig deep into his own pockets in order to give away big money on M-Net’s brand new reality show, Shark Tank South Africa, for which he has been chosen as a “Shark”. Based on the Emmy-award-winning US series, Shark Tank invites entrepreneurs with potentially lucrative products or business ideas to pitch their plans to the "Sharks” for consideration. If they like the idea, they may offer the entrepreneur a deal. Broodryk said:

To date, some 11,000 votes have been received (and just keep on coming), and as many as 200 companies entered into the African FinTech Awards. At present, the five top-scoring companies are Wala (1,200 votes), Vuga Pay (1,155 votes), Branch (980 votes), Yoco (420 votes), and MyBucks (358 votes).

“We [Africa] need to market ourselves more. We have a continent with lots of opportunities for people, we have a young and vibrant population and a growing middle class. We need to let people know that we are open for business and that we are very investor friendly,” says Seyi Bickersteth, National Senior Partner KPMG Nigeria & Chairman KPMG Africa Practice. Seyi has enjoyed a long and illustrious career – one that spans 40 years, in fact – and is no stranger to change. Currently, he oversees KPMG’s business in Africa, and calls his most important responsibilities developing people, outlining the vision for KPMG, and setting the strategy for how the firm will move forward. “Our clients are increasingly telling us they want to succeed in Africa but in order to do that they need a firm that can provide a single point of contact to meet all of their expectations in the region. This guides our strategy.”

In line with market expectations, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced earlier this month that it would leave the leading policy rate unchanged at 7%, keeping the prime lending rate at 10.5%. Maura Feddersen (pictured), Senior Economic Advisor with KPMG Economics, Financial Risk Management, has identified four reasons why the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) kept interest rates unchanged.

"One of the challenges for corporate leaders is that often, they are not good communicators, or are not very effective communicators. They largely communicate via email, company newsletters or noticeboards, and PowerPoint presentations. To get the key message through you’ve got to be more creative than that and become a better storyteller,” says consultant and academic, Peter Christie, better known as Big Chief Talking Bull.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest developments in finance, but you are short of time? Don’t worry. CFO South Africa weekly collects 10 of the most important articles from international media for your convenience.

Tiger Brands has announced that Noel Doyle (pictured), who has been the company’s COO since July 2015, will be taking over the CFO role from Funke Ighodaro as of 1 August.

"We can help finance professionals to improve their ability to better utilise their time, by automating and simplifying remedial processes like data collection, allowing them to spend more time on analysis," says Anna Puzone, the head of enterprise performance management at information management company Zetta Business Solutions, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Norman Mbazima (pictured), CEO of Kumba Iron Ore, which is 70% owned by Anglo American, has announced his resignation. Mbazima will be stepping down at the end of August in order to focus on the restructuring of the company, as well as Anglo American’s coal business. Anglo American said of the news:

Through some incredible tech-enabled financial discipline, CFO Colin Brown helped saving Super Group from the abyss, setting the South African flagship firm on course again for massive expansion. Since then successes have been commonplace, with Colin (pictured with Discovery's Terrence Taylor) winning no less than three CFO Awards and the group regularly reporting spectacular growth. On 21 July 2016, at the CFO event on M&A, Colin provided some candid insight and valuable tips during a round table discussion with a select group of CFOs.

In its recent trading update, released on Friday 22 July, steel company ArcelorMittal SA said that when it releases its results on 29 July for the six months to end-June, it anticipates reporting that its interim headline loss per share widened by as much as 75%, its headline loss per share having deteriorated to between 43c and 47c.

While many other teams in a business have some flexibility as far as deliverables, reporting and project timelines go, this is a luxury not often enjoyed by the finance team. But as the pace of doing business is so much faster today, is it not time the finance function became more agile too? We spoke to experienced CFOs and other industry experts to get their insight. By Toni Muir "Being agile requires openness, the reservation of judgement and the ability to turn on a dime," says Terrence Taylor, general manager: Talent, Analytics, Leadership and Learning at Discovery. You need people with a cosmopolitan outlook, an open mindset and an eclectic set of experiences, he adds, and a leader who is comfortable sharing leadership and power. But what exactly is an agile team, and what makes it so? Moreover, why is this important to the finance function?

African budget airline fastjet has said it will raise as much as £19.2 million through a share issue, issuing the shares at 50 pence each. This according to Reuters.

Discovery Ltd has announced that it will soon launch its behaviour tracking programme, an initiative that rewards health and life insurance clients for healthy lifestyle choices as well as aids in fitness tracking, in Japan.

The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) made a decision yesterday to keep the repo rate at 7% and to revise the country’s growth forecast down to 0%. The Sarb has not, however, ruled out the potential for further interest rate tightening later in the year. Sizwe Nxedlana, FNB chief economist, said in a statement:

“The first week after we were acquired, I went to sit with management and tried to get an understanding of why they had bought us and what they had promised their shareholders. I then took that, came back home and developed a strategy to give them what they wanted to see,” said Cobus Grove, CEO Digicore Holdings, speaking as a member of the panel at last night’s CFO South Africa event, Where the rubber meets the road, the second in a two-part series on M&A. The evening’s discussion covered the CFO’s role post-deal, including how CFOs meet the multitude of market, investor and board expectations, as well as how to best integrate systems processes and cultures. Cobus was joined by Deon Fredericks, CFO Telkom; Charl Keyter, CFO Sibanye Gold; Ryan McDougall, Group FD Trustco; and Walter Palk, Partner at KPMG.

Barclays Africa CE Maria Ramos (pictured) recently announced that the bank will be partnering with clients, governments, NGOs and economic development agencies on a multimillion-rand shared growth initiative aimed at boosting education and skills development.

"We understand that the current financial landscape requires innovation, creativity and the need to understand and address a great variety of complex issues, and have therefore aligned our programmes to prepare students as effectively as possible for the business and economics sphere," says Professor Humphrey Gowar from Monash South Africa (MSA), a platinum partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

Gold Fields Ltd recently announced the appointment of 59-year-old Yunus Suleman (pictured) as independent non-executive director to the Board of Gold Fields Ltd, effective 1 September 2016.

"Leading in a new world requires the ability to join the dots, connecting the most relevant information and people from across the organisation when making decisions," says Zahra Cassim, the head of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants' (CIMA) South African chapter, a gold partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

In a bid to address the financial literacy skills gap in South Africa, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has released a new guide, ‘Financial management and business success - a guide for entrepreneurs’, designed to help small businesses understand the importance of financial literacy. Nomsa Nkomo (pictured), Policy Manager, ACCA South Africa, said:

"To lead you need to know yourself and why you’re doing things,” opines Groeneveld South Africa CFO, Lewis Kangausaru. Lewis has been a part of the Groeneveld team since October 2013, and is responsible for the full financial governance of the company. He says reflectiveness is a core of the leadership principle: “To be forward-thinking you need to be reflective, to take time to think about what has occurred in a given space of time, the decisions you’ve made, why you’ve made them and the current outcomes.”

CFOs need to actively manage IT risk, says John Mc Loughlin, Managing Director of software company J2: “It is vital that the CFO take an active role in managing this risk – as it appears IT may not have the executive drive to get it done themselves.” In this article, John shares some of the top questions CFOs must ask themselves when dealing with risk management and threats, and before declaring their IT policy as sound.

A recently released report by the African Corporate Governance Network (ACGN)has revealed that Kenya ranks 14th in Africa with regards to corporate governance, and is one of the top five improving nations in this regard.

Nigeria’s Central Bank has dismissed fears of a banking crisis despite several alarming happenings, including the recent resignation of the CEO, chairman and 10 board members of Nigeria’s eighth-biggest lender, Skye Bank, following the biggest drop in the bank’s share price in over six months. The Central Bank was quoted by AFP as having said in an email statement:

According to the latest Robert Walters South Africa Job Index, the last quarter saw a 6% overall decrease in job advertising volumes compared to Q2 2015 in SA across all finance functions; with a 15% annual decline in job advertisements in accounting and finance overall. Robert Walters, a leading specialist professional recruitment consultancy, attributes this decline to the compounding effects of consistent political uncertainty, a British and European economy which has been paralysed by Brexit, and challenging currency exchange rates for South African importers.

Roy Clark, MD of Clarkhouse Human Capital, recently moderated a thought leadership session where 20 CFOs were invited to discuss the role of transformation and diversity in the workplace, and what the role of a CFO is in fostering this. In this self-penned piece, Clark delves into why transformation and diversity are such misunderstood notions, and looks at how corporate South Africa can make these ideas work within their organisations.

Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has appointed Cilliers Steyn as its new CFO. Steyn previously held the position of CEO of Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH), of which DFA is a subsidiary. Steyn takes over from Thinus Mulder, who has accepted the position of permanent CEO, following Gustav Smit stepping down. Mulder said of Steyn's appointment:

"We offer clients an integrated, full-service offering for all their marketing needs – a real one-stop solution which delivers benefits in terms of value, consistency, confidentiality and sheer ease of doing business,” says Alban Atkinson, MD of integrated corporate communications agency INCE, a PLATINUM partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The Reserve Bank has granted authorisation to the South African Post Office (Sapo) for the latter to establish its own bank. The Postbank will now be re-registered as a new company in order for it to operate as a fully-fledged bank and to allow it to lend money.

"When people receive a below-par standard of service from Sars, our office offers a free channel to air complaints," says Advocate Eric Mkhawane, CEO in the Office of the Tax Ombud, a silver partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

To be ready for the future, CFOs need to embrace imagination, make bold choices and be intimately connected to customers and employees. Those were some of the main takeaways at a lively CFO breakfast debate in Cape Town's Westin Hotel on Tuesday 12 July 2016. Preceded by a thought-provoking and often humorous presentation by futurist Morne Mostert, the high-level intimate gathering of about 35 people was treated to insights by Woolworths CFO Reeza Isaacs (3rd photo) and retired Remgro CFO Leon Crouse (bottom photo), who played a pivotal role in the success story of Vodacom.

Capital equipment, fleet management and contract mining group Eqstra has concluded an all-share deal with JSE-listed industrial energy group enX which will see enX acquire its fleet management and industrial equipment divisions in exchange for 52.7 million shares, valued at R21 per share, and raise R1.5 billion of which R1.4 billion will be used to recapitalise the contract mining business.

Never underestimate the value of relationships, says Waseem Carrim, CFO of the NYDA.

Some 3,300 votes have already been received for the African FinTech Awards since the launch of the voting competition two weeks ago. At present, top-scoring companies include Wala (508 votes), Sureswipe (255), Wealthmigrate (217), Simplepay (204), Mobicred (178).

As a youngster, Peter Christie was enormously fond of Western movies, particularly those which featured North American Indians giving cowboys what he calls “a good klapping”. One movie in particular made a big impression on the youngster: The Great Sioux Massacre, where, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, shaman Big Chief Sitting Bull led the defeat of General Custer and other troops of the US Army. Peter can still recall a gift he received from his parents at this time: a colourful North American Indian costume that included feathered headdress, leather-tasselled vest, moccasins and tomahawk. Needless to say it immediately became a firm favourite of the energetic six-year-old who, when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, answered without hesitation, “Big Chief Sitting Bull”. Peter being quite the chatterbox, his dad adapted this to “Big Chief Talking Bull”, and the name stuck. Peter has always had a liking for stories – reading them, telling them, watching them, and writing them. As an adult, he turned this talent into a career, establishing a successful consultancy that teaches business people how to unlock their storytelling potential in order to become better, more influential leaders.

Eskom has received an almost R20 billion loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund its infrastructure expansion programme, which includes the Medupi and Kusile new build initiatives. Eskom said in a statement:

Swiss-based insurer Zurich has announced that its South Africa and Botswana operations will be acquired by Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. The announcement ended speculation that Zurich’s parent has been planning to exit South Africa. Zurich said in a statement:

Telesure Investment Holdings (TIH) has announced that it has appointed Tom Creamer (pictured) as its new CEO. Creamer’s appointment follows the very recent resignation of Manny Rios, who left TIH due to differences in perspective on the strategic direction of the business.

"We have always believed passionately in the role accountants play in creating a better world by helping to make businesses more successful, creating jobs and generating wealth," says Coenraad 'Coenie' Middel, whose firm Middel & Partners has been named as one of the most inspiring accountancy practices in the world and has been included in the recently published ‘The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants’ by author Steve Pipe.