As the curtains start to fall on 2024, more than 100 finance leaders from across East Africa gathered at Villa Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi for the exclusive 2024 CFO East Africa Year-End Summit. The highly-anticipated event, which took place on 28 November, was CFO East Africa’s seventh summit, all of which have been well-received by CFOs across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda since its launch in 2023.
During the summit, themed Power to the People, CFOs shared their personal experiences, participated in contemporary discussions and gained valuable insights and strategies to elevate their leadership practices.
CFO East Africa community manager KC Rottok Chesaina set the ball rolling by welcoming the guests and revealing the results of the CFO East Africa Survey, which sampled CFOs’ thoughts about the most significant challenges they face, their primary focus in 2025, and their preferred route to personal leadership development. The survey also sought to know how finance leaders rated their companies’ adoption of technological upgrades and performance in meeting ESG objectives.
Renowned business journalist and television host Julians Amboko then moderated a panel discussion, Business reflections 2024 and aspirations for the coming year, featuring Bayport Tanzania CFO Rehema Sanare, MTN Rwanda CFO Dunstan Stober, Rocket Health Uganda CFO Fiona Nuwamanya, and Mitchell Cotts Kenya finance and strategy director Michael Nzule. The panelists shared their highs and lows for the year and discussed the opportunities and risks of digital disruption.
Taking stock
Rehema revealed that Bayport was now fully digitalised and had closed nine branches in favour of a paperless system.
“The customer does not have to walk into a branch. We used to have 3 000 sales agents, but we no longer have a sales agent force now. We operate a lean machine. We have 68 employees, down from 371. Our ability to bring in business has doubled. It has not been easy, but it is our greatest achievement,” she said.
A major challenge cited by Dunstan and other panelists was regulatory changes, which have affected operations in different markets.
“Both the regulator and the taxman see telcos as the golden goose, and it’s like they are trying to kill the golden goose. But there is a silver lining in everything. MTN Rwanda faced unprecedented challenges over the past year, which forced us to rethink how we do business. In my first few months in Kigali, the Rwandan franc depreciated 15 percent. The opportunity we saw looked at how we structure our business to reduce dependency on dollar contracts,” he said.
Fiona raised questions about the risks posed by technological advancements, such as cybersecurity, which she said had receded to the background, as people preferred to discuss opportunities instead. She also noted that payment challenges in insurance and competition had posed a challenge to the business.
“If you are not able to move quickly, bigger players come into the market and cannibalise the market share you had captured. With retail, customers are here today, and tomorrow, they are somewhere else. You must be innovative with customer retention,” she said.
Michael pointed out that in recent years, the digital disruption had been largely consumer-driven.
“Customers want to track and trace cargo in real time. If you do not offer these services, you are not competitive. For example, customers might want to monitor changes in temperature that could affect the quality of their goods and their ability to sell them. Another issue is feasibility and providing linkages to customers. Today, we keep stock while customers do marketing. Orders are done, and we distribute them to the destination. They can monitor the level of stock. Technology is revolutionalising warehouse management,” he said.
The year that was
After the close of the first panel discussion, EY East Africa CEO Nancy Muhoya took to the stage for a keynote address. She commended the community for its role in creating opportunities for finance professionals to network and trade insights, noting that many had reconnected with former colleagues and classmates.
“For the sake of the future of finance and the changing roles of CFOs, what would be more significant for us as we set FY 2025 goals, is to have a growth mindset conversation. It has been a great pleasure for EY to be the principal partner of this great programme in 2024. And as we wrap up the year, I will send you off by saying 2025 should be a year of growth. Foster understanding of this profession to your teams. Continue to role-model. Enforce your use of technology, keep developing the talent and skills of your people, and most importantly, maintain a positive mindset,” she said.
KC then took attendees through the plans for the 2025 CFO Awards for East Africa, explaining that nominations would remain open until 28 February 2025. The rigorous evaluation process will include nominee interviews and shortlisting between May and June. An esteemed panel of judges will provide their scorecard feedback by 30 August - with the “Oscars of Finance” taking place on 27 November.
It was then time to delve into professional and personal reflections of 2024 and aspirations for the coming year with Safaricom CFO Dilip Pal, Spiro group CFO Wangeci Kanjama, Zep-RE CFO Rachael Gitonga, and Serengeti Breweries CFO David Muriithi.
The drastic 106 percent depreciation of the Ethiopian Birr against the dollar was a common pain point, which Dilip jokingly said had led to his baldness.
“Ethiopia has kept me busier than anything else we were doing. It is just so overwhelming. We are running through a very different phase in Ethiopia. It is at the initial investment stage,” he said.
Dilip was, however, grateful for the chance to get into wildlife photography, which he enjoys practising at a place he and his wife vowed to come back to after their first visit long before he joined Safaricom: the Maasai Mara.
Guests were visibly impressed by Rachael’s marathon achievements, including the 90-kilometre Comrades Marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban in South Africa, which she has completed thrice. She narrated her experience pursuing and finishing a PhD, a qualification with a notoriously low completion rate.
“I wanted depth in who I was. I was building a career in finance. I am very intrigued by knowledge. I love sitting in spaces where I listen to people’s ideas, and I enjoyed my doctorate journey so much, because it is about sitting in spaces like this. This is actually a real doctorate class, where people bring in their perspectives from wherever they are and challenge you and make you think differently,” she said.
Wangeci expounded on the need to harness African youth for future success. Though she spoke passionately about Spiro’s vision for e-mobility in Africa, she maintained that family remained the most important thing in her life.
“When I left Safaricom, I also had to deal with my cousin’s death, and that was very difficult. And as I was joining the business, my dad fell ill, and that was very difficult. He came out of the sickness, but what I really learned was ‘never forget your family’. You must watch your children grow. When I die, the people who have the front seat at my funeral will be my family. My colleagues will say one or two good things and then go away. My family will miss me the most, so that’s what I cherish,” she said.
The power of community
After the panel discussions, award-winning jazz and afro-jazz fusion band Shamsi Music delighted guests with a vibrant mix of soulful melodies, providing a relaxed atmosphere for networking and the enjoyment of refreshments.
Attendees then proceeded into two breakout rooms, where they reflected on the year that was in intimate round-table discussions. In a heartfelt moment of gratitude, the CFOs gave a standing ovation to community manager KC for his role in curating CFO East Africa events, where many had found a safe space to connect over shared experiences.
As the night drew to a close, each guest left with a copy of the latest edition of the CFO Mag for East Africa, which features interviews with leading CFOs, insights on relevant topical issues, and exclusive research results on trends influencing approaches to ESG.
The event was hosted in conjunction with principal partner EY and associate partners Adili Group, ALN, Boya, PaySpace, Yellow Card, and Verto.
