CFO South Africa is interviewing a large number of CFOs and CEOs of leading South African companies. From now on, we will publish them on our site regularly. Next in our series is Mr. Paul O’Flaherty, CFO of Eskom, a company staffing 42,000 people, which he joined in January 2010. He was appointed to the Board as executive director responsible for the finance function overseeing nearly 3.000 employers in the finance and shared services departments.

Some people simply seem gifted with the ability to speak in public. While others struggle through nerves and stutters when giving a presentation, others just come up, entertain and inform their audience in an admirable way, seemingly effortless. And on top of it – the audience ends up doing exactly what the speaker intended. Mission accomplished. Why can’t we all be like that?

There has been a sharp decline in confidence in the local economic situation. This is according to the Graduate Professionals Confidence Index compiled by insurance and investment company PPS.

CFO South Africa is interviewing a large number of CFOs and CEOs of leading South African companies. From now on, we will publish them on our site regularly. The second in our series is Cullen Penny, CFO of STBB (Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes). Cullen Penny is the financial director of the law firm STBB, a company he joined in 2007.

A survey released by Ernst & Young today, indicates that confidence in the asset management industry fell yet again in the third quarter of 2011. The fall in confidence levels was once again moderate, with confidence somewhat below long-term average levels (84 index points).

During the last couple of years, many of South Africa’s companies changed their strategy. Unfortunately, not all of them have proven to be successful. Which skills are essential for an advocate of change within an organisation to change their strategy or direction?

Black South Africans own at least 17 per cent of the 100 top companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, according to an initial study, the head of the exchange said Tuesday.

We came across this very interesting read on www.leader.co.za. The feature is written by Gary Hamel: Professor of Strategic & International Management at London Business School, and co-founder of the Management Lab.

Although the crisis in Europe and the United States might seem far away, they are very, very close. South African CFOs are very aware of that, proves the 2011 Deloitte CFO Survey. “South African CFOs are cautious about the future, perhaps wisely so.” The survey reveals that while the 2009 recession may be over, CFOs are only dipping their toes into the growth pool, while keeping a careful eye on costs and margins. The aftermath of the financial crisis has brought with it an additional regulatory burden which is at risk of stifling growth.

Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are the fastest growing percentage of corporate fraudsters, according to a survey by forensic audit firm KPMG.

For the first time ever two companies, Nedbank Group and Gold Fields, have been declared the joint overall winners in the annual Ernst & Young Excellence in Corporate Reporting Survey.

CFO.co.za aims to increase the knowledge of CFOs in South Africa as well as exchange ideas and information. As an example of useful topics to be discussed within this online community, we showcase a Top 5: Necessary (soft) Skills for finance professionals - according to the finance professionals themselves.

Soon this section will feature various Q&A’s with leading CFOs and Managing Directors of South African Industry. In the mean time, let us take the opportunity to introduce one of our editors by means of a similar Q&A, allowing her to introduce both herself and this brand new website.

Having originally implemented SAP Business One in 2006 within Compleo Print, it became clear that the remaining businesses in the group were not enjoying as rich a functionality, which led to concerns over data integrity and reporting capability, as well as a distinct lack of integration. An almost fatal server crash in 2011 prompted the business as a whole to review its ERP technology infrastructure in order to ensure business continuity long into the future. Founded in 1999 as a strategic Xerox partner, Prodoc Business Solutions, recently renamed Compleo Business Solutions, has played a key role in positioning Xerox as a leading brand and supplier of quality printing equipment and related consumables in South Africa. A growing market, together with the opportunity to expand to a more holistic offering, saw the launch of Prodoc Business Systems, embracing a more service focused approach. In 2006, Compleo Print, a digital print company, was also launched. Operating in a B2B environment, the group works with a wide range of companies across multiple business sectors including agriculture, healthcare and government, to name but a few. “Xerox products range from efficient desktop devices right up to large, sophisticated multi-million Rand production print equipment,” explains Richard Attwell (pictured), founder and managing director. This se