General Manager: Forecasting, Planning and Analysis, MTN South Africa Before we succeed at Big Data, let’s get the small data right! Almost four years to the date, Donald J Trump succeeded in an unexpected election victory to become the 45th president of the United States. In time allegations surfaced that the Trump campaign had used…
Head: Shari’ah Treasury and Finance, Standard Bank There are no problems, only opportunities When I signed my training contract with Standard Bank, I already knew I was on a path less chosen. However, it was the correct path for me. I knew this from my first financial management lecture that this what I wanted to…
Director and Founder, Fulu Fitness, and Audit Manager at EY Lessons on success from the Chinese bamboo tree Life can be challenging, and it is easy to throw in the towel when there is no extrinsic motivation to spur you on. Despite all the challenges you face, you need to forge ahead patiently but persistently…
Head: Spies Praktyk, Malmesbury The best beginning Imagine living in a world where every child has access to a good education. This has been my dream for South Africa from a young age. At some stage I thought it would always be just that – a dream. And then I met Elize. In the summer…
Director for Controllership for VISA SSA Servant leadership It must have been around 2015/16 when I was formally introduced to ‘servant leadership’, a term coined by Robert K Greenleaf in an essay titled ‘The servant as leader’. I was attending a youth leaders’ training event and little did I know that the training event would…
Digital Innovation Intrapreneur Lead in the CIB Digital Division, Standard Bank Group Counting beans in the 4IR Being a chartered accountant in a time when the world is going through unprecedented changes is colourful, to say the least. On the one hand, technology is rapidly advancing and challenging what it means to be relevant in…
Is anyone truly born special? I am a father of two young kids, and just like all fathers (and mothers) throughout time, I often believe that my children are the most special in all the world; and understandably so – it is human nature after all. Most likely our parents also felt like this and…
Private Equity Transactor and Africa Chair for One Young World; Co-Founder of imagine.nation If not me, then who? If not now, then when? We have inherited a collection of global challenges which need to be addressed with a global mindset. One Young World, a summit bringing together the brightest young minds from 196 countries, challenged…
General Manager: Licensing, SAMRO Not all CAs are decision-makers Chartered accountants who are born decision-makers must be given room to make a large-scale positive impact on business, education, the economy and the public sector. How do we identify them? The CA journey is a gruelling and testing one; it’s rigorous and pushes individuals who embark…
CFO African Operations and MD of EDP Mozambique The value of values Unfortunately, at the time of receiving the gift packs sent to the finalists by SAICA, I was in Mozambique investigating a case of theft by one of the local farmers in the region. It was a lengthy forensic audit and at that time,…