Interview
A complete overview of interviews with South Africa's most prominent CFOs and FDs.
23 February 2016 Sean Doherty worked for Standard Bank, became a consultant and then rejoined the bank as CFO Investment Banking. We asked him what he learnt ‘on the outside’, how finance can contribute to agility and his doubts about finance transformation. 16 February 2016 A focus on people and communication has been instrumental during the first 100 days as CFO of Nedbank Wealth, says Anbann Chetti, who last year was promoted from his previous role as Nedbank – Corporate Banking CFO. “The move has been phenomenal and the learning has been fantastic.” 09 February 2016 Being a business partner is extremely important, but a CFO should never forget to bring his or her financial acumen to the table, says CFO of the Year 2015 Deon Viljoen. As money boss at Alexander Forbes he has guided the company through a rebirth that included a delisting and a relisting on the JSE. These days ‘higher purpose’ and ‘balancing stakeholders’ are key success factors at South Africa’s largest retirement fund administrator, he reveals. 02 February 2016 Africa is complex and diverse, so here’s a secret tip from Mohammed Hoosen Abdool-Samad, finance director at Illovo Sugar. “To succeed, you need to have a deep understanding of the political and macroeconomic landscape. This can only be done by having skilled and experienced local resources that understand the business environment. Overreliance on expats can result in the business being ‘unplugged’ from the local business environment." 26 January 2016 A conversation with Bikash Prasad always includes exclamations like “I am passionate about Africa” and “we are very bullish about the continent”. The finance wizard, nominated for the 2015 CFO Awards, readily dishes up facts and figures about Africa’s economic opportunities. “Olam’s investment in Africa in the last five years is over a billion dollars. It is humongous.” 19 January 2016 “As a finance team we can bring our own products into the conversation with our business partners and our customers, by talking about how we do things at Microsoft.” Discussions about finance transformation and the evolution of the CFO can sometimes sound theoretical and dry – not so with Paul Marten, Finance Director at Microsoft South Africa. Using the same tools that his famous firm is selling, he embodies the outward looking finance leader of the 21st century. 15 January 2016 Proteas grow in tough terrain and a lot of patience is required before seeds can be harvested and sown again. There are surprising parallels with the growth of black accountants in South Africa – and with Edson Magondo’s own rise to prominence, as we discover during an exclusive interview with the man who heads the KPMG service offering for government, infrastructure and healthcare. 12 January 2016 In an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa, Shabeer Khan, chief financial officer of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), explains how he and his dedicated team managed to achieve a clean audit. Somewhere in Pretoria there is a big government department where the financial statements reported are of the highest quality, supply chain management legislation is adhered to and wasteful expenditure is a thing of the past. In September the Minister of Trade and Industry proudly announced that the dti had just received a clean audit for the 2014/15 financial year. He also deservedly deflected much of the praise to CFO Shabeer Khan and his highly committed team. 08 January 2016 FinTech will fail without broadband access, says management consultant and Gibs academic Matthew Birtch. In an exclusive interview with FinTech Africa, he speaks about the role of formal education in developing the FinTech space and what local entrepreneurs can learn from China. "A big advantage of the Chinese FinTech market is that there is room for experimentation." 05 January 2016 “Business grows and finance improves through a focus on systems – that is my thesis,” says Wayne Koonin, group finance director at Omnia. With 15 years of turnaround experience in the mining industry and a small team of trusted advisors in tow, he recently joined the South African chemicals group and identified digital transformation as the lever to “take the business to the next level”. 04 January 2016 “My grandson Daniel, who calls me ‘judge’ like many other people, recently said ‘Judge, you are always in airplanes, you must have a big carbon footprint?’ He also asked me if I recycle all the paper I use. And that was coming from an eight-year-old!” Not only is Prof Mervyn King’s anecdote endearing, the former Supreme Court judge and global governance guru also makes a good point; even an eight-year-old knows that the world is changing. “It will be a disaster if companies don’t start thinking in an integrated way.” 30 December 2015 Since 2009 he was CFO at the National Treasury and in 2014 he even scooped up a CFO Awards nomination. Recently, Dalu Majeke has moved back to the Eastern Cape and joined the provincial treasury as head of department. “It is Buyelekhaya - ploughing back to home - for me," says Dalu, a staunch supporter of CFO South Africa, during this exclusive interview. Working at the National Treasury "was a game changer in my career", he says, but now it is time to help improve the Eastern Cape achieve "proper resource allocation and sustainable service delivery". 29 December 2015 There is great value for CFOs and FDs to meet each other and share notes, says Kinya Kimotho, finance director for Africa at international market research firm Nielsen. “When you look at different industries and companies, there is commonality in problems and challenges. How do we tackle that as CFOs? How can our companies grow fast? I would love to talk to peers about it.” 22 December 2015 “For a Kenyan company like ours, the competition is nowhere and the room for growth is enormous,” says Jovan Grujic, CFO of the diverse, family-owned group PISU & Company. The Serbian money boss has had some great successes during his career in Europe and now wants to cut his teeth in a real growth market. “I was seeing growth in Asia and Africa and decided to be part of it. I want to be here while it happens, not afterwards. It is a big challenge but very rewarding.” 16 December 2015 The cream of the crop of Africa's aspiring CFOs and business leaders will be competing for a prize of R100,000 during the global finals of The CFO Case Study Competition, hosted at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016. With entries for participants closing in March 2016, we spoke to Valentine Nti, CEO of organiser CharterQuest Institute about the way CFOs, corporate sponsors, professional bodies, universities and business talents of 25 years and younger can get involved. 15 December 2015 “The role of the CFO is to promote integrity,” says Oliver Mwita, chief financial officer of DHL Express in Kenya. We spoke exclusively to the experienced finance leader, who has previously held positions at Deloitte, Nation Media, Gateway Broadcasting, Muthaiga Country Club, Nakumatt and Frigoken. We chatted to Oliver about his career, the challenges for CFOs in Kenya and his advice for young, ambitious accountants who want to make it in Nairobi – and the world. 11 December 2015 “I want to double our number of members and students and instil a real passion for ACCA,” says Pat Semenya, who is heading up ACCA South Africa since August 2015. After years at Nestlé, Pat felt it was time for a job that could really make a difference.“Economic transformation is not completed in this country and I want to contribute positively to that.” 08 December 2015 “Great CFOs know exactly how to build controls, push transformation and convince stakeholders to invest in technology and that is what Kenya needs,” says Stavros Constantinou, Group CFO at the ever expanding privately-owned business Multiple Group. The executive from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus says the CFO Kenya community comes to Nairobi at exactly the right time. “We are here to help each other, because one plus one can equal three. This is the way forward.” 01 December 2015 “It is tempting as a CFO to get involved in every urgent issue affecting the business, because finance encompasses so many parts of the business," says Brett Clark, the CFO of Mpact and one of the nominees of the 2015 CFO of the Year Awards. “However, I believe a good CFO needs to create the time to analyse the information available in the business, visit the operations, debate issues with team members and focus on the key areas affecting the business.” 24 November 2015 As deputy chief executive officer and finance director, David Hodnett is the right hand of CEO Maria Ramos at Barclays Africa. In an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa, he speaks about his love for detail, his relationship with Ramos and the creation of Barclays. He also reveals how he very deliberately chose to plot his career path via risk management roles and why he sees the way he deals with people as a reason for his success. “I believe in accountability and giving people space to operate.” 17 November 2015 Not many South African CFOs will guide their JSE-listed company through a second listing in New York, but Megan Pydigadu did just that. We chatted to her about the ups and downs MiX Telematics has gone through since then, the balance between an entrepreneurial attitude and compliance and shifting the company culture. 10 November 2015 "Finance had to make sure that common sense trumped emotion" during the acquisition of the Australian department store chain David Jones, says Woolworths CFO Reeza Isaacs during an interview with CFO South Africa. "We now have to ensure that the business is focused on delivering on the deal synergies.” 04 November 2015 Jo-Ann Pohl, a platinum member of CFO South Africa, has left her job as CFO Africa at Standard Chartered Bank to join insurance conglomerate Telesure Investment Holdings as group CFO, effective 15 October 2015. We spoke exclusively to Jo and asked her why she moved, what her proudest moment was at Standard Chartered Bank and what she hopes to achieve at Telesure. "The opportunity to work in non-banking financial services with a proudly South African brand on home soil was a compelling proposition and aligned to my personal goals." 27 October 2015 Inheriting the wonky books of a government-owned company known for its shoddy service delivery and corruption sagas involving many staff members including the senior management is not everyone’s cup of tea, but the Durban-born CA Suren Maharaj was clearly up to the task. He managed to turn around Pikitup, the waste management company of the City of Johannesburg and turn an organisation with disastrous financials into a success story. 20 October 2015 “To me business is about integrity, honesty and authenticity," says Zaf Mahomed, chief financial officer at McDonald's South Africa. “What I like about being a chief financial officer is the ability to influence strategic decision making,” says Zaf, when he sits down with CFO South Africa for an exclusive interview. “As CFO you look at the past and the future. What I enjoy the most is using the past to improve the outcome in the future. It is also a continuous balancing act between governance and being a business partner.” 16 October 2015 "There is a lot of hype around FinTech at the moment, where everyone thinks that it is the be all and end all of financial services. I see it as more of a consumer-driven revolution. People are looking for more convenient and cost-effective ways to transact and do business." 14 October 2015 Tobie van Zyl is as close as it gets to a FinTech rock star from South African soil. He started and exited multiple successful companies, consults for promising startups and is now eyeing a global mobile banking venture. In the runup to our landmark FinTech event in Cape Town, our reporter Ebrahim Moolla spoke to Tobie about the challenges and opportunities of doing business in South Africa. 13 October 2015 Kevin Johnson has rolled out ERP projects globally and previously held management positions in Australia and the UK within the Howden Group (Part of NYSE listed Colfax). In South Africa he recently had the opportunity to relocate, but decided to extend his stay because “my family likes the country and I felt my job wasn’t finished”. The job over the last few years has been exciting, it has entailed a lot of restructuring and modernization, particularly in the IT space. Because of the lack of growth in the mining sector Johnson – from Northern Ireland – has been part of the team that changed the strategy to focus on the aftermarket, something the CEO and he had done before in Asia Pacific. “Even though our revenue dipped in mining, our profit in this sector went up.” 09 October 2015 Ray Leclercq, a South African living in the UK and working from the Netherlands, has been with Unit4 as CFO for more than a year now and is working on probably the biggest transformation the company has ever seen. He is loving every minute of it, he says. “My job is to keep the business growing and performing, while simultaneously redesigning the company.” In this interview with CFO South Africa, Leclercq talks about business transformation, the ideal role of finance and how new technology can help finance to be a better business partner. 08 October 2015 "FinTech is a fantastic thing, but lenders must be responsible and conduct proper creditworthiness assessments," says Benay Sager, chief operating officer at Intelligent Debt Management. Benay will be on the panel of experts during our upcoming FinTech Africa event in Cape Town on 20 October. Our journalist Ebrahim Moola spoke to him about FinTech's benefits and barriers. "My hope is that many more people will enjoy access to mobile banking technology and not have to go into a branch." 06 October 2015 Morvest Business has been through some radical, strategic changes over the last few years and Suren Singh has been leading the charge as CFO. No longer an ICT company, Morvest now positions itself as a global diversified investment holding company à la Bidvest. Singh believes in clarity and says his passion rubs off on others. “I want to know more about my craft and the work I do than anyone has ever done in the history of the world,” he enthuses. As finance chief, Singh says during this interview with CFO South Africa, he is “in an ideal position to bridge the natural tensions between the CEO and the Board”. 29 September 2015 He sure doesn't choose the easiest CFO roles, does Bongani Nqwababa. After a career at firms like Shell Southern Africa, Eskom and Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), he is currently tasked with navigating national pride Sasol through a tricky period of low oil prices. Luckily, Bongani has earned his striped as crisis manager par excellence at Amplats, where his calm head was crucial in times of strikes. The new strategy he plotted recently saw Amplats selling off its Rustenburg mines to Sibanye, but Nqwababa has already moved on to other challenges. 22 September 2015 “As CFOs we need to be trusted advisors, rather than critics,” says Simon Ridley, CFO at the Standard Bank Group and last year’s CFO of the Year. In an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa, Ridley talks about the myth busting responsibility of CFOs and CAs, the charm of over-disclosing, the reason everybody at the bank knows his mother and about being the perfect business partner: “You can’t just throw stones at a problem.” 15 September 2015 The acquisition by Telkom, the death of its beloved CEO and the need for a major restructuring have kept Lawrence Weitzman, CFO at Business Connexion (BCX), busier than ever. Twice nominated for the annual CFO Awards, Weitzman has successfully navigated his company through the trials and tribulations and is understandably proud the firm has managed to do well. Managing people in the right way and being a trusted leader is the real reason behind the success, says Weitzman, who comes across as a soft-spoken accountant but has established himself a real leader. “I try and give people space to do their own things and to make mistakes.” 08 September 2015 As one of the quiet men behind Transnet's relative success - for a State-Owned Company (SOC) - CFO Anoj Singh was recently drafted as acting Eskom CFO, joining his Transnet chief Brian Molefe at the battling power utility. Singh started working at Eskom and already messages from Megawatt Park have started to become clearer. Only the future will tell if the top executive, who won 2 CFO Awards in both 2014 and 2015, will save Eskom. 01 September 2015 Yolande van Biljon learnt valuable lessons when the IT bubble burst around the turn of the century, grew into a finance leader at Denel and now has the unenviable task of sorting out the cash flow problems at the Road Accident Fund (RAF). Her recipe for success should work for any CFO: “What scares people is uncertainty. It is better to be open, even if you cannot tell people what they want to hear.” 25 August 2015 At CFO South Africa we already know Greg Davis for a while, thanks to his great series of Expert Insights on: 18 August 2015 “You need to understand what world class means and then raise the bar for your own company.” There is no doubt that Colin Brown knows what he is talking about. In his position as Group CFO, he assisted the Group Chief Executive Officer, Peter Mountford, and the current leadership in rescuing the flailing Super Group from the abyss five years ago, turning it into a profitable transport logistics and mobility group once again. 11 August 2015 She visited our very first CFO event in Cape Town, featured in one of our first interviews way back in 2012 and recently gave some sizzling insight in the international expansion and IT innovation at the Spur Group. This year Ronel van Dijk (favourite food: ribs) was nominated for the 2015 CFO Awards and we spoke to her about her relationship with CEO Pierre van Tonder, her take on coaching, her deep involvement in everything strategy - from testing the equipment to tasting the food - and her passion for the Spur Foundation. 04 August 2015 Denel CFO Fikile Mhlontlo has been instrumental in cost cutting, efficiency drives and improving financial ratios. Together with the other executives he has changed the state-owned aerospace and defence technology conglomerate from a loss-making public enterprise into a successful, profit-making company with an increasingly international focus. Denel’s international image is now superior, says Mhlontlo. “The strategy of decentralisation and partnering has worked wonders.” 07 July 2015 Banking both the world’s unbanked and underbanked population through the use of mobile technology is what Wizzit International hopes to achieve. "Our primary focus is on financial inclusion and empowerment. In the world there are 3 billion people without access to financial services. In Africa there are 700 million people who do not even have a basic bank account,” says Brian Richardson, Wizzit International’s Chief Executive Officer. 02 June 2015 Can someone who introduces a whole new way of reporting - the fourth bottom line - be a CFO? Can somebody who is at the forefront of innovation in the pharmacy industry be a CFO? Can someone with a happy and popular team be a CFO? Or someone who coaches many colleagues and authors articles for magazines for fun? And what about someone who says his church pastor is his example in life or someone who never misses any of his kid's cricket matches? Can he be a CFO? 12 May 2015 “If you want to be a great CFO, you need to be in a position where you can learn to manage a complex organisation,” says Anoj Singh, Group Chief Financial Officer at the dynamic State-Owned Company (SOC) Transnet and winner of two CFO Awards at the annual gala evening on 15 May 2014. In the run up to this year’s CFO of the Year gala, we are publishing a short version of the interview we had with Anoj for the first issue of the brand new CFO Magazine – which will be launched during the CFO conference and awards event on 14 May. 05 May 2015 “I believe that a CFO that doesn’t understand IT is at risk,” says Super Group CFO Colin Brown, whose recipe for success includes his deep understanding of IT, something he believes will aid any CFO tremendously. Brown was the winner of both the Finance Transformation and Strategy Execution award at the inaugural CFO of the Year event in 2014. In the run up to this year’s CFO of the Year gala, we are publishing a short version of the interview we had with Colin for the first issue of the brand new CFO Magazine – which will be launched during the CFO conference and awards event on 14 May. 29 April 2015 “As CFOs we need to be trusted advisors, rather than critics,” says Simon Ridley, CFO at the Standard Bank Group and CFO of the Year 2014. In the run up to this year’s CFO of the Year gala, we are publishing a short version of the interview we had with Simon for the first issue of the brand new CFO Magazine – which will be launched during the CFO conference and awards event on 14 May. 21 April 2015 When the Woolworths CEO Ian Moir suggested that they have dinner, Reeza Isaacs didn’t think much of it. He was Managing Partner at services firm EY that audited the Woolworths account and there was a long standing relationship between the organisations. Then came the job offer and Isaacs hasn’t looked back. From closely being involved in the spectacular acquisition of Australian retailer David Jones to getting used to receiving daily updates about trading results, it has been a real roller coaster ride for the FD of Woolworths. We spoke to Isaacs about the importance of mentoring, his proudest moments at EY and his successful shift to the fast pace of retail. “It has been a phenomenal experience.” 24 March 2015 Besides financial, social and environmental data, integrated reports should include data on the health and wellness of staff, argues Brett Tromp, CFO of Discovery Health. We asked him what his ‘fourth bottom line’ means and why CFOs should care about health in the first place. 10 March 2015 Business power house, Chartered Accountant and Fort Hare graduate Sizwe Nxasana (57) started KwaZulu-Natal’s first black audit firm in 1989, listed Telkom at the JSE in 2003 and more than doubled FirstRand’s market cap to R295 billion in 2015, after becoming CEO in 2010. Last week he announced he will step down as CEO in September. In an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa, Nxasana chats about the role of CFOs, SAICA, the economy and BEE. He also has some tips for ambitious CAs. 03 March 2015 “It is very important to understand how investors see the business, because if you don’t listen to them, you might miss important trends,” says Casper Troskie, Financial Director at financial services company Liberty. In an exclusive interview with CFO South Africa Troskie shares valuable advice for ambitious Chartered Accountants, recalls his proudest moments and elaborates on the culture change that Liberty has embarked on. “It has been a great journey, but I see the task only as a third of the way done.” 24 February 2015 “A great CFO needs to have appetite for a certain level of risk,” says Steven Whiley, CFO at Neotel, South Africa’s second fixed line operator. Whiley is currently part if the negotiations for the sale of Neotel to communications giant Vodacom and has earned his stripes during a long and varied career as CFO in several industries. “The best CFOs can look at the balance sheet and understand from there what makes the business tick.” 13 February 2015 When should a company hire a CFO? It is a difficult question to answer said Nolands director, Allan Mundell but it usually came down to size and whether the business owner is serious about growth and sustainability. 10 February 2015 Last year Nishant Saxena traded his job as CFO of pharmaceutical company Cipla India for a move to Cape Town, where he is now the Chief Financial & Administrative Officer of Cipla Medpro. During the CFO event at the Cape Town Club on 19 February, Nishant will be the key note speaker. He will share some of his experiences in South Africa so far and he will talk about the transition of finance from a bookkeeping role to a true business partner. 03 February 2015 There are not a lot of South African CFOs who have experienced and contributed to such spectacular corporate growth as Fanus le Roux. When he joined Tshwane-based engineering, management and specialist technical services company Aurecon (then Africon) 20 years ago, it had a turnover of R132 million. These days the company is a global one, with its African operations contributing a R2.6 billion turnover annually. “It has been an exciting journey,” le Roux says modestly. 27 January 2015 “I have always had the philosophy that honesty, which at first, in some cases, may lead to a negative response, in the long run acts as a motivator,” says Jonathan Maehler, Financial Director at ChemSpec, one of Africa's largest paint and coatings companies. He has been guiding the business through a difficult period over the last three and a half years. “Being a CFO requires toughness in these situations, because you have to bring the truth to the fore. Through an intense focus on growing sales and regaining customers, we have found our way up.” 20 January 2015 Improving the quality of governmental accounting is as high on Dumisani Dlamini's agenda as successfully executing his new job as CFO of the National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC). “I am extremely proud of my involvement as chairperson of audit committees in various municipalities. It is great to see those finance departments change for the better.” 16 January 2015 “As companies prepare for a Digital First World, the CFO will play a key role in providing the financial underpinning of this digital transformation, says Lenore Kerrigan, Sales Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at software company OpenText Corporation. “It is controversial, but in many companies CFOs are still mainly reporting on historic facts and figures. The role of modern CFOs, however, is forward looking and includes a very strong focus on understanding risk and financial growth. Our Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Enterprise Information Management (EIM) systems can help them accomplish this.” 13 January 2015 “If you’re a quick-solutions type person, you tend to look like the bad guy at a non-profit organisation,” says Linda Kumbemba, CFO at loveLife, South Africa's largest HIV prevention initiative for young people. “The environment is slower-paced compared to the corporates, but you have to move and keep agile. It is also great to be part of a successful behavioral change campaign even though its results can’t be measured in the way a CFO would usually want results to be measured.” 06 January 2015 “At the age of 16 I made the decision to become a CA and a business leader,” says Brooks Mparutsa, the eloquent Group Chief Financial Officer of Hollard Insurance. His impressive career in the public and private sector has taken him all over the world. “I am following the path I set out for myself. What many people lack is a vision for their lives and careers. I benefited a lot from staying at my audit firm for a number of years and spending years in the public sector – it is a path I definitely recommend.” 09 December 2014 While Shabeer Khan, Chief Financial Officer of the dti, admits to dreaming of becoming an astronaut, a Formula One racing driver and even a fireman as a young boy, he would now like to encourage young Chartered Accountants (CAs) to take the route that he has taken. At the age of 34 he confesses to having considered other career prospects but working for Government was a conscious decision for him and he assures us that nothing compares with the daily fulfillment he gets from his current role. The perception is that working for government can be a risky career choice but Khan says that working for the government provides an opportunity where you can enhance your skills and make a real contribution to your country. Khan currently leads a team of 90 people and was the only CA within the dti when he joined in 2013. 02 December 2014 When Austin McDonald became a Chartered Accountant, he was already “the world’s worst engineer”. Although he is a self-professed “maverick” the Finance world has clearly suited him much better than engineering did, especially after he joined the family’s business: Promasidor. Now his CV boasts a successful rescue operation, a handsome R9 billion annual turnover and unequalled insight into African opportunities. “When looking at African countries, be consumer driven and not product driven,” he advises. 25 November 2014 “A platform like CFO South Africa is very useful,” says Talelani Enos Ramaru, Chief Financial Officer at The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). “There is a lot of innovation happening and as a CFO you have to know about it,” says Ramaru, who is proud of the work he has done to bring stability to the trade union federation’s finance team. 18 November 2014 Decisiveness is one of the most important characteristics of a good CFO, says Clint Capitano, Chief Financial Officer at loss adjusting firm Cunningham Lindsey. “People procrastinate and take a long time to take decisions; being decisive is one of my strongest points. I do research, get the information I need, take a decision and move on. I get things done and live with the consequences of my decisions.” 11 November 2014 “What makes me get out of bed in the morning is the contribution that I think I can make to the plight of the unemployed in South Africa,” says Vuyo Mafata, CFO at the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). In this interview Mafata talks about the challenges of being a CFO in a governmental organisation and the exciting responsibility he has of managing an investment portfolio of more than R100 billion. 31 October 2014 “We have grown tremendously in Africa over the last five years,” says Badibanga Promesse, Strategic Account Director- Global Corporate Relations at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). With evident energy, he tells us about the upcoming shift to online-only exams and the continuous drive to keep the syllabus and short courses relevant. “For CFOs this is crucial, because CIMA is the only accounting qualification that has really embedded strategy in its syllabus for many years.” 21 October 2014 When Tudor Hungwe joined the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) more than five years ago, it was a matter of “getting the accounting right and putting controls in place”. With time though, his role has shifted. “The priorities in my day-to-day job have changed. I find myself working more and more as a partner to the executive team. It is challenging, but it makes the creative juices flow and it is much more fun.” 17 October 2014 “Our biggest message to CFOs is to strive for simplicity,” says Anna Puzone, head of enterprise performance management at information management company Zetta Business Solutions. The two year old firm is part of IS Partners (established in 2001), which implements Microsoft-centered solutions. “Zetta was born out of the need for a client centric approach to technology solutions. Our approach is advisory in nature, as we seek to offer solutions in a simple, cost effective and impactful manner” 14 October 2014 13 October 2014 Last month Spur Group announced that sales across its restaurants have increased by 13.5 percent and that restaurant turnover per annum now exceeds R5.5 billion. In the next year the group wants to open 10 new Spur outlets, 10 Panarottis‚ 7 John Dory’s‚ 8 Captain DoRegos and 6 outlets for The Hussar Grill. We thought that was reason enough to phone longtime CFO Ronel van Dijk and ask her about how her finance team has contributed to this success and the group’s exciting international prospects. 07 October 2014 Her proudest professional moment was the presentation of Eskom’s Annual Results announcement and the financial sustainability plan to key stakeholders, says Tsholefelo Molefe, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the public electricity utility. “Eskom is always in the spotlight and as it took a while to fill in the Finance Director permanently after my predecessor Paul O’Flaherty left, my very first challenge was to make sure that I pull the Finance team together to remain focused so that we could deliver a successful annual report, which continues to receive a string of awards on Excellence in integrated reporting. I am proud that our integrated report tells our story in a way that helps people understand what the company is about.” 03 October 2014 The merger of two proud audit and advisory firms is not an easy process, but Grant Thornton Johannesburg CEO Andrew Hannington feels his company is in a strong position to face the competition. “We still have two buildings but we have moved half of our people across to promote integration. We are looking at new premises so we can all be under one roof. It hasn't been easy, but tax and audit departments are already working very well together.” 01 October 2014 After conquering Nigeria and Ghana for MTN in various CFO and CEO roles, Brett Goschen was ‘redeployed’ last year as Group CFO. Today we publish PART 2 of an exclusive interview with Goschen, in which he explains how to successfully do business in West Africa. 30 September 2014 After conquering Nigeria and Ghana for MTN in various CFO and CEO roles, Brett Goschen was ‘redeployed’ last year as Group CFO. Today we publish PART 1 of an exclusive interview with Goschen, in which he talks about the business support role of a CFO and the challenges a mobile telecommunications multinational faces. 26 September 2014 “As an auditor you have the opportunity to get exposure to numerous companies and industries,” says Miles Fisher, partner at audit and advisory firm Mazars. Fisher is a Chartered Accountant (SA) with a real passion for auditing and says he is always ‘lecturing’ young talent not to leapfrog into the business environment too soon. “People often don’t realise the massive learning opportunities the position of auditor offers.” 23 September 2014 Popularly referred to as “CFO Clean Audit”, Rofhiwa Irene Singo leads the Finance Department at the Department of Mineral Resources, and has a remarkable story of perseverance to tell. Irene, as she prefers to be called, has been instrumental in turning around the failing financial reporting at three public institutions and prides herself in having achieved these under very difficult conditions. “I always knew that I could do it, hard and smart working paid the price. The name CFO Clean Audit resonates well with me and I like it,” she says. 22 September 2014 16 September 2014 “I strive to be a multidimensional CFO,” says Jurgens Myburgh, who recently swapped an impressive career in Corporate Finance at Standard Bank for a role as CFO at information technology group Datatec. In anticipation of learning from more experienced peers, Myburgh has joined CFO South Africa as a platinum member. “It will be great to network with like-minded people, bounce ideas off experienced individuals, gather intelligence on best practice and stay up to date. You can’t afford to operate in a silo.” 09 September 2014 26 August 2014 “I think the role of the CFO is becoming far more interesting and complex,” says Steven Hyslop, founder and director of Futuresense, a high-end implementation firm for Oracle’s Hyperion solutions. “Our work always starts with a CFO wanting a solution,” adds Simon Jackson, his fellow director. Hyslop and Jackson recently spoke to CFO South Africa about the role of the Chief Financial Officer in driving digital transformation. 05 August 2014 "The best CFOs are intellectually persuasive without being arrogant," says Nedbank CEO Mike Brown, a former Chief Financial Officer himself. In a candid interview with CFO South Africa Brown talks about himself, growth opportunities in the rest of Africa, the importance of small businesses to jumpstart the South African economy and the characteristics that set brilliant CFOs apart from merely solid ones. "You need to be able to read the tea leaves and persuade others about what this means for the future and what the organisation needs to do differently as a result." 31 July 2014 “You’ve earned the position – but the trick is to turn it into a role,” says major asset rental financier, Fintech CFO, Lourandi Kriel: in conversation about how only optimal functionality and absolute efficiency gets the job done.javascript:; 17 June 2014 “The difference between a good and a great CFO is that the latter assists his CEO pro-actively and spends a lot of time in the business,” says Karl Kumbier, Chief Executive Officer of Mercantile Bank. In a candid interview with CFO South Africa he talks about his impressive career in the banking industry and the way his bank can help spur on economic development and employment by providing financial solutions for entrepreneurs. 12 June 2014 “As a commercially-orientated CFO, I like to play a leading role in business which is why Sasfin is good fit for me. It offers opportunities to broaden my horizons and that is what appeals to me,” says Tyrone Soondarjee, Financial Director at Sasfin bank and the JSE-listed Sasfin Holdings Group. Speaking about the Group, Soondarjee says: “We understand entrepreneurs, because we are entrepreneurial ourselves.” 11 June 2014 Most CFOs will agree that it would be ideal if the talents in their finance team could be freed up to support the leadership with acquisitions, shareholder engagement and other value adding activities. Outsourcing company WNS Global Services offers them exactly that opportunity, says Johann Kunz, Managing Director at WNS in South Africa. “Outsourcing of financial functions is slowly taking off in South Africa and will become a standard part of a CFO’s toolkit,” says Kunz. 06 June 2014 “This job has given meaning to driving Financial Inclusion in South Africa and doing good as a corporate citizen,” says Philip Panaino, division president South Africa in International Markets at MasterCard. “It has always been a passion for me to contribute to a truly inclusive financial environment. Here I am able to do that, whilst working for a large multinational. For me it is a perfect marriage, the best of two worlds.” 04 June 2014 “There are still billions of people that have not been touched by technology. That is where our enormous potential lies,” says Mteto Nyati, Managing Director at Microsoft South Africa. “Technology is not an end goal; it is all about what it can do to help humanity reach its potential.” As the famous IT-company shifts from being a software company to a device and cloud company, Nyati is full of ambition and enthusiasm about opportunities in South Africa. 03 June 2014 Chief Financial Officers are important stakeholders for technology firm Oracle, so it is no surprise that Pieter Bensch, Vice President at Oracle South Africa, has a keen interest in these professionals. Bensch has been involved in various CFO South Africa events and was one of the jury members for the inaugural CFO Awards. When adjudicating the candidates Bensch specifically looked for executives who “run a world class business” and “show innovative spirit”, he says. 30 May 2014 “As a JSE-listed company you have to spend money on an integrated report. So the best thing you can do as a CFO is to use that money and leverage it to improve the business and to keep your investor network abreast of what your company is planning for the long term,” says Adriana de Roock, Managing Director at Greymatter & Finch. 27 May 2014 When somebody with experience and a great deal of insight speaks positively about South Africa, it makes a lasting impression. Especially when he is a former Global Lawyer of the Year, argued for the release of political prisoners during apartheid, defended the dignity of a number of sports heroes and has been praised for brokering successful deals in the energy sector. Such a person is Gregory Nott, who joined Werksmans Attorneys in 2012 to develop the Africa practice. 13 May 2014 “Africa should be a net food exporter, but it is a net importer at the moment,” says Bikash Prasad, CFO South and East Africa at Olam International, a Singapore-headquartered integrated supply chain managing firm and processor of agricultural products and food ingredients. The Durban-based Prasad has a passion for the continent. “We want to play an important role in the growth of Africa,” he says. 23 April 2014 “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” says Deon Fredericks, Acting Chief Financial Officer at Telkom, Africa's largest integrated communications company. Fredericks joined the then state-owned landline monopolist in 1993 as a senior manager in internal audit and has worked himself up the finance ladder in an admirable fashion. Fredericks says he fully supports CFO South Africa’s mission to connect the country’s finance leaders. “CFOs are starting to play a more significant role, specifically on strategy. It is very valuable to learn from each other.” 11 April 2014 With the interview process drawing to a conclusion, three more CFOs were interviewed this week for the benefit of the jury of the CFO Awards. On Wednesday the nominated CFO Dalu Majeke of the National Treasury hosted CFO South Africa-founder Alex van Groningen in Pretoria. 08 April 2014 On Tuesday Vuyokazi Memani-Sedile was the next nominee to be interviewed for the benefit of the CFO Awards jury. CFO South Africa's founder and director Alex van Groningen travelled to Pretoria to chat to the Finance Excutive of the University of South Africa - better known as Unisa - about her role as CFO, the finance transformation of her team and her role in strategy and governance. 06 April 2014 The CFO Awards jury interviewed a number of prominent Chief Financial Officers in the last few days, all of whom have been nominated for the prestigious awards. On Thursday Brett Tromp (Discovery Health), Aarti Takoordeen (JSE Limited) and Anoj Singh (Transnet) were the ones making their case and on Friday Wynand Greeff (PSG Group) and Nicky Dewar (Postbank) answered the questions from the jury. Among the jury members involved in the interviews were 02 April 2014 On Wednesday the jury for the inaugural CFO Awards resumed its interviewing duties with a visit to the Midrand offices of IT outsourcing company Business Connexion. Jury members Victor Sekese (CEO at SizweNtsalubaGobodo) and Professor Ben Marx (University of Johannesburg) chatted to Lawrence Weitzman, CFO of the Business Connexion Group since September 2011. It was fascinating to hear how Weitzman attributed most of his successes to his team and his colleagues in the leadership of the company. 27 March 2014 “CFOs are very familiar with structured data, because that is what they work with every day,” says Lesley Plaistowe, Partner Financial Services at technology firm IBM. “What they need to know more about is unstructured data: information from phone conversations, emails, social platforms, the weather report and much more. Often a lot of operational data is hidden, but can be found when technology mines your unstructured data.” 21 March 2014 Sphiwe Blose is not a self-made man. According to him, in business and in life focusing on the self is the worst way to make a man – success comes through working together and seeking this, Blose grew into the man he is today. 19 March 2014 In March and April CFO South Africa will interview all nominated CFOs. We ask each of the judges to be present during two interviews. The reports of these interviews will be added to the dossier of each CFO and will be used by the judges to determine their individual votes. 14 March 2014 On Friday the jury of the CFO Awards 2014 interviewed Megan Pydigadu, Group Financial Director at MiX Telematics, an incredible South African success story which is now listed on both the JSE and the New York Stock Exchange. With her CEO working from Miami, Florida, Pydigadu works from the MiX Telematics head office in Midrand, playing the crucial role of finance leader at this company, a leading global provider of fleet and mobile asset management solutions. 13 March 2014 On Thursday it was Colin Brown's turn to be interviewed by two members of the jury for the 2014 CFO Awards. As CFO at Super Group he has guided his business from a very difficult position to some remarkable success. Brown chatted to Victor Sekese (CEO at SizweNtsalubaGobodo) and Willem Jeroen Stevens (CEO at Transparent) about his focus on IT and his accomplishments over the last few years. 12 March 2014 Yet another top CFO was interviewed on Wednesday as part of the jury process for the 2014 CFO Awards. Simon Ridley, Financial Director at the Standard Bank Group, has been a CFO for a quarter of a century - mainly with Absa and Standard Bank. He was quizzed about his challenges and successes by two jury members, both leading figures in the South African business world in their own right: CEO Victor Sekese of fast-growing accounting firm SizweNtsalubaGobodo and Rob Otty, Managing Director of Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa - Africa Law Firm of the Year 2012. 11 March 2014 Jury members of the 2014 CFO Awards on Tuesday interviewed three talented gentlemen, who have made a name for themselves as CFO. The interview series will inform detailed reports that will help the impressive team of jury members to choose the winners from a select list of nominated CFOs. The 7 prestigious CFO Awards will be handed out to the winners during a black tie event on May 15 at the beautiful Summer Place in Johannesburg. For more information visit cfoawards.co.za 10 March 2014 On Monday interviews with two of South Africa's best CFOs officially kicked off the interview process to decide who wins this year's inaugural CFO Awards. Over the next two months an impressive team of jury members will chat to nominated CFOs according to a pre-determined list of questions. The interviews will form the basis for their jury reports and eventually for the decision who wins the 7 prestigious CFO Awards. The awards will be handed out to the winners during a black tie event on May 15 at the beautiful Summer Place in Johannesburg. For more information visit cfoawards.co.za 04 March 2014 Risks and cash flow are on the forefront of Mangadi Dikotla’s mind, as her company Afric Oil continues its expansion path. “We’re growing and sometimes you tend to forget about risks and all you see is opportunities,” the CFO of the country’s first BEE oil trading company says. “I consider that my most important job at the moment, along with ensuring a healthy cash flow of course” 25 February 2014 Does a firm hire a Chief Information Officer or should IT and ERP-systems fall directly under line management? Building materials retailer Cashbuild has elected to put the responsibility squarely with each line executive and CFO Etienne Prowse says the company is reaping the benefits. “Even though IT implementation can get in the way of other tasks, we believe there is a huge advantage when the finance management is accountable for the automation. 19 February 2014 “My best contribution as a CFO is that I aim to develop leaders,” says Tanuja Naidoo, who has been in charge of finance at Transnet Pipelines since 2009. After turning around the finance department, she was recently tasked to do the same in procurement and risk management at their Durban headquarters. The key to every successful manager is investing time in people, she says. “That is something I live by. I lead by example. 18 February 2014 In finance, as in all games, respecting rules and having good players are the key to winning. That is Dario Drago’s take on his role as CFO at Novartis South Africa. The Italian moved to the Johannesburg offices of the pharmaceutical firm in March 2013 and has identified compliance and building capabilities as his main tasks. 17 February 2014 Liesl Tweedie knows all about courage, having stepped into the acting CFO position at Gijima, the listed South African IT-company that has been struggling lately. “Either you look like a star or you fail,” she says. “But I have always enjoyed a challenge and have often volunteered for difficult projects when I was working at ABB.” So it is no surprise that Tweedie believes that today’s young finance talents should possess “confidence and courage.” 11 February 2014 CFOs are dealing with “unprecedented uncertainty”, says Pierre Heistein, business analyst, economics instructor and regular columnist for Business Report. Heistein will be one of the speakers at CFO South Africa’s 13 March event ‘Get Smart in 2014’ and he is keen to address ways to tackle that uncertainty. “I especially want to look at what type of people you need to deal with this. There needs to be a rethink about how labour is used.” 05 February 2014 Introducing the CFO Awards Jury Delphine Maidou is CEO of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Africa, one of the largest and most renowned insurance and financial services providers in the world. Delphine is one of the 12 jury members who have committed to be on the jury for the CFO Awards 2014. Together with the other members of the jury she will decide on who will win one of the 7 prestigious CFO awards. The event will be held May 15 at the beautiful Summer Place in Johannesburg. For more information visit cfoawards.co.za 04 February 2014 Which CFO would not like to build their financial team, IT systems and processes up from scratch, not worrying about existing culture, equipment and other legacy issues? Daryl Edwards got the chance to do just that at Universal Coal and he is pretty excited about the result. 03 February 2014 Introducing the CFO Awards Jury Rob Otty is Managing Director of Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa (Africa Law Firm of the Year 2012) and one of the first who committed to be on the jury for the CFO Awards 2014. Together with the other members of the jury he will decide on who will win one of the 7 prestigious CFO awards. The event will be held May 15 at the beautiful Summer Place in Johannesburg. For more information visit cfoawards.co.za 29 January 2014 28 January 2014 “More than in the past you have to pick your battles and prioritize,” says the experienced Matthias Wellhausen, CFO at steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa. “There are a zillion things going on that are challenging. You have to focus your resources on the most important ones. This goes as much for an individual CFO as for the company as a whole, which should also put its energy into a limited amount of challenges.” 27 January 2014 “Don’t be afraid to get boxed in by going for opportunities as they present themselves,” says Nicky Dewar, CFO Post Bank at the South African Post Office. “If I look at my career, especially in the beginning, I did not know what to do,” says Dewar, when asked what she would advise young accountants. “But I have noticed that all experiences build on the others – nothing goes to waste. You should not be worried that you will be limited if you choose a certain direction. Don’t worry and just go for it.” 04 December 2013 Surround yourself with people that encourage you, believe in yourself and resist the temptation of lucrative offers before finishing your degree or articles. That is some of the great advice that Dikeledi Nakene, CFO at Palabora Mining Company Limited, has for young, aspiring talents in the finance world. “I was born and bred in Limpopo province in Ga- Modjadji not far from Phalaborwa and look at me now. I want to tell local people, especially village girls, that everything is possible!” 03 December 2013 “Employees are the key to success in every company,” says Dick Borsboom, the Nigeria-based Regional CFO for Dangote Industries in East and Southern Africa. The Dutch national is an experienced finance leader and joined cement firm Dangote in August 2012 to broaden his horizons even further. Borsboom has a lot of great tips for Nigerian and other African CFOs, many of them boiling down to engaging staff in decision making. “Negative management – do this or else – is something we should move away from.” 18 November 2013 “There are several merger and acquisition deals on the table at the moment,” says Business Day columnist David Gleason, who publishes the quarterly M&A magazine DealMakers. He says those deals are being “worked on and discussed”, but they’re “cooking in the pot for now” because of the political uncertainty in South Africa. “We have to get through the elections and see what sort of cabinet we will get. If it is a team of reasonable people, it will unlock a lot of energy for the economy.” 11 November 2013 08 November 2013 “I am never jealous of CFOs in the private sector, but I am just happy that they are there so I can follow them and learn from what they are doing right”, says Dalu Majeke, CFO at the National Treasury. 28 October 2013 While most CFOs spend their days maximizing profit and fighting competitors, Eugene Lufhugu’s primary role is “to make sure our beneficiaries are taken care of and focusing on the long term sustainability of the Group”. However, just like his peers, the CFO of Rand Mutual Assurance sees cost management as one of his most important briefs. “I worked for FNB and Toyota Tsutso Africa, but I would not say I miss profit driven commercial business. I joined Rand Mutual when the company just started to think about growth and there are lots of exciting things happening.”How can finance contribute to agility? 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