Community

CFO Dinner: Finance chiefs confront the hidden costs of leading through uncertainty

South Africa’s leading finance executives gathered for an evening of candid reflection on the invisible pressures shaping modern business, from geopolitics and AI to culture, people and reputation. The conversation revealed a defining truth for today’s CFOs: resilience is no longer optional and adaptability has become the currency of survival.

CFO Day: Finance leaders must balance governance and growth

Minerals Council South Africa CFO Tima Norkie has highlighted the evolving role of CFOs as strategic enablers of growth, stressing the importance of balancing governance, risk management and business agility, at the 2026 CFO Day in Johannesburg.

CFO Dinner: The art of scale in a rapidly changing world

On 19 March, CFO South Africa hosted an exclusive dinner at The Westcliff’s Cellar Door in Johannesburg, bringing together finance leaders for lively discussions on recognising when growth begins to stagger, resetting capital allocation according to scale, building systems and teams that grow sustainably, and protecting value while pursuing ambition.

CFO Dinner: When global politics meets the balance sheet

On 25 February, CFO South Africa hosted an exclusive dinner at The Chef’stable Cape Town, bringing together finance leaders for lively discussions on how discourse in global geopolitics is increasingly shaping local financial outcomes.

CFO Summit: Unlocking investment value

Top finance executives gathered in Sandton for the first CFO Summit of 2026, exchanging practical insights on capital allocation, AI adoption, organisational culture and the changing role of finance leaders as strategic change agents.

2026 CFO Summit: Looking beyond the rands and cents

The 2026 CFO Summit will bring together some of the country’s top finance leaders to discuss managing today’s business challenges, working together more effectively and adapting quickly in a fast-changing world.

Nominate your finance chief for the 2026 CFO Awards!

Nominations for the 2026 CFO Awards are officially open. This is your opportunity to honour the finance leaders whose vision, resilience and innovation have helped steer their organisations, and South Africa’s economy, forward over the past year.

2025 CFO Awards: SA’s finance elite shine bright

Under the glittering Johannesburg skyline, the country’s top finance leaders gathered in the Polo Room at Sandton’s Inanda Club for the annual CFO Awards – a night of glamour, gratitude and inspiration. From powerful acceptance speeches to Akani Simbine’s moving fireside chat, the event honoured the people and purpose driving South Africa’s financial excellence.

Mercedes-Benz CFO empowers finance teams to build their own AI tools

At the 2025 Finance Indaba, Mercedes-Benz CFO Taryn Woodbridge shared how empowering finance teams to experiment with artificial intelligence (AI) tools, without waiting for IT, sparked a cultural shift, reduced fear of digitalisation and boosted efficiency across the organisation.

The secret to creating agile finance teams revealed at 2025 Finance Indaba

At the 2025 Finance Indaba, senior finance leaders shared their insights on how to build agile, innovative teams that embrace change. From hiring for emotional intelligence to fostering psychological safety and modernising systems, CFOs unpacked what it truly takes to future-proof the finance function.

Digital transformation is not optional, says Nedbank CFO Mike Davis

Speaking at the 2025 Executive Day, Nedbank CFO Mike Davis outlined the financial services provider’s approach to digital transformation, emphasising co-operation between finance and technology, governance structures, and the role of AI in enhancing efficiencies and client experience.

C-suite executives break the silence on loneliness in leadership

At the 2025 Executive Communities Executive Day, EY global controlling transformation leader Ajith Haripaul unpacked the hidden pressures of leadership, calling for vulnerability and authenticity in navigating the challenges at the top.

2025 Executive Day: Top leaders reimagine SA’s future

2025 Executive Day brought together top CFOs, CIOs and HR leaders under the theme Renewing our social contracts. The event tackled South Africa’s future, digital transformation, ethical leadership, menopause in the boardroom and the realities of executive loneliness.

CFO Pitch Parade: Finance, fun and four-minute flair

Melrose Arch came alive as finance leaders and industry experts gathered for CFO South Africa’s 2025 Pitch Parade, for an evening of innovation, quickfire pitches and light-hearted networking, all under the sparkling Jozi sky.

CFO Day: Finance leaders delve into leading decisively in a volatile world

Peter Armitage, CEO at Anchor Capital, Tarryn Sankar, head of credit and investment research at Stanlib, and Christiaan Coetzee, national placement leader at Marsh, share how, while it can feel impossible to predict the future, CFOs can lead decisively by finding opportunity in risk.

2025 CFO Day: Leading through crisis, complexity and change

CFOs Risto Ketola and Ashona Kooblall share how bold decisions, transparency and emotional intelligence helped their organisations recover from crisis. Talking at CFO Day at the Marriott in Melrose Arch, both stressed that today’s CFO must drive value, while leading with empathy and clarity.

2025 CFO Day: Transforming finance and embracing change

Top financial leaders from across South Africa gathered at this year’s CFO Day, a high-impact event focused on the evolving role of CFOs in business transformation, AI integration and strategic leadership. From candid panel discussions to collaborative group sessions, the day explored how finance leaders are driving value through communication, innovation and reinvention.

Finance leaders look to the new generation at CFO summit

The voice of the younger generation was heard loud and clear at a recent CFO South Africa summit, held in the Mother City. JobJack's Zanli Botes and Oceana's Shaista Hendricks revealed how they believe finance leaders should build future-ready businesses for their employees.

2025 CFO South Africa summit: CFOs to look beyond the numbers

The Cape Town leg of the 2025 CFO South Africa summit will bring together some of the brightest finance minds in the country to delve into navigating the complexities of modern business, fostering collaboration and leading with agility in a rapidly changing business climate.

CFO Dinner: Adopting growth strategies in volatile times

An engaging group of leading CFOs got together at a CFO Dinner, where they debated issues of growth and sustainability amid geopolitical uncertainty, and how to deal with a new generation of finance professionals.

Executive Day 2024: Staying connected with leadership

Executive Day 2024, held at the lively Melrose Arch in Johannesburg on 5 September 2024, lived up to its promise as an immersive simulation experience for South Africa's brightest financial minds and their HR and IT counterparts in the C-suite.

Women of the future on how to innovate to dominate

2023’s award winners for CFO, CHRO, and CIO Awards respectively, were immersed in dynamic and robust conversation as part of a distinguished panel discussion at the 9th Annual Executive Women’s Event.

CFOs should be Road Runners, not a Wile E. Coyote, says Ray de Villiers

Future of work guru Ray de Villiers says that, as the role of finance teams changes due to generative AI taking over their number-crunching responsibilities, it’s up to CFOs to make sure their people understand what the new future will look like, and the power they have to impact it.

CFOs are reshaping the finance talent landscape of the future

Some of South Africa’s leading finance executives will gather on 14 March in Cape Town to discuss the future of their finance teams, and will reveal the skills they are looking for most, to address changing business requirements.

CFOs are ready to change the tide in 2024

South Africa’s top finance executives will gather on 22 February in Johannesburg to discuss the future of the country, and reveal the role CFOs play in making sure we get there.

A CFO-CIO relationship like no other

Optimi Group CFO Suloshini Singh and CTO of Discover Digital Yasvanth Singh share their meet-cute story, and reveal how their relationship outlasted unaccounted for plans and demanding careers.

CFOs unpack ESG, tech and teamwork in CFO Day Survey

In what has become a tradition, South Africa’s top finance leaders completed the CFO Survey at this year’s annual CFO Day on 5 July. The results are unpacked in this CFO Magazine special feature.

Nominate your finance captain for the 2024 CFO Awards!

Nominations for the 2024 CFO Awards are now open. This is your chance to put forward the finance executives who have shown impeccable leadership over the last year, as they could walk away a winner at the annual Oscars of Finance!

The moments that made the 10th annual CFO Awards memorable

Held on the 16th of November at the exclusive Polo Room in Sandton's Inanda Club, the event lived up to its moniker as the “Oscars of Finance”, delivering a spectacular celebration of excellence, innovation, and resilience in the financial sector.

The CFO’s automation journey: A marathon, not a sprint

Experts, including FEM’s Yusuf Bodiat, Momentum’s Estelle and Alteryx’s Russ Mills, discuss the benefits automation holds for CFOs when it comes to planning for the future during a CFO South Africa webinar.

 

Top