While attending his 5th CFO East Africa summit in Nairobi in August 2024, Bobmil Industries Limited group CFO Juzer Adamjee reflected on the changing role of the CFO. He encouraged upcoming CFOs to develop their skills beyond traditional accounting to prepare themselves for the more demanding strategic roles.
During the summit, Juzer recalled when he left his first role as a financial controller at H. Young and Company (East Africa) Limited and took up the role of group financial director at another company. At his new workplace, he was handed a computer to use. The fact that the computer and many after it have since become obsolete symbolised, for Juzer, the simple fact that the world could be an entirely different place in the years to come.
“I was progressing from a finance director, up to a level where I became a CEO, and the whole spectrum changed. Accounting packages came in, computers and technology changed, people changed. I would say, even the subjects which were taught in accounting changed. There was a complete change right across all these years, when I moved on,” he said.
During that change, Juzer revealed, resilience played a central role. He called upon CFOs to have the courage to adapt to change or risk being left behind. He narrated his move from kenya to Australia, which he termed a steep learning curve, requiring him to acclimatise to the culture, diversity, people, and communication. The move demanded more than just adapting to new technology.
“And you had to learn very fast. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for me, especially, to be where, to be where I was going, and to be where I am, at this point in time,” he said.
The UK-trained chartered accountant worked for a number of publicly listed companies in Australia before leaving for Dubai, UAE. In the past, he revealed, CFOs were referred to as “counters”, charged with the sole responsibility of crunching numbers. They concerned themselves primarily with compliance, audit, balance sheets, budgets, and cash flows. The role required little beyond that. But as he began to take up roles in different countries, Juzer’s role changed, becoming more strategic and advisory. Gradually, he became involved in business restructuring, employing an entirely different skillset.
The present times, Juzer reckons, require CFOs to be co-pilots to their CEOs, acting as trusted partners to catalyse growth in businesses. While recognising the broadness of the term “strategic”, Juzer, who has had experience in the manufacturing, FMCG, construction and infrastructure development, retail, hospitality, healthcare, and service industries, advises current and future CFOs to develop their strategic acumen.
“I was involved in setting up joint venture alliances, and it's another mindset that you need, that you have to learn. If you don't have it, you go and get it, or ask, or seek education wherever it is. Now, all these things don't come in at the flick of a finger. I think it comes over a period of time, and you're given the opportunity to develop. I was lucky enough that I got the opportunity to develop these skills as I moved along,” he said.
Juzer narrated his move to Qatar, where he worked for an organisation with 22 diverse business units geographically spread across the Middle East and Europe, with a turnover of 2.5 billion USD. When he applied for the role, he was doubtful of his ability to manage the units. But he drew on his courage, confidence and discipline to get the job done. Some of the units were profit centres, while others were cost centres. The cost centres were draining the company’s resources, a situation that required him to consider his approach carefully, given the difference in culture. To combat the perception that his primary concern as CFO was numbers, Juzer had to demonstrate that he could think outside the box to deliver the business objectives using all skills gained through his prior experience. Under his leadership, one of the business divisions secured a stock exchange listing in Qatar, with a market capitalisation of 700 million USD.
“The role completely changed from audit of numbers and compliance, to what I was saying: strategy, influencing, making things better, advocacy, change management, and stakeholder management. You needed data skills, which are different from just producing numbers and saying what it is. So these are the new skills that I had to learn to be successful in that role. Those are the skills which one has to learn if you want to succeed in managing those kinds of roles, which you get in the future,” he said.
In light of the increasing integration of artificial intelligence, Juzer invited CFOs to adopt a forward-looking mindset. He anticipated that finance executives would need technological skills to progress in their careers and realise the mission and vision of their companies. He credits a CEO with whom he worked previously for mentoring him, saying the experience played a large part in his growth. He advocates for surrounding oneself with people who are smarter as a strategy for success.
“All these years I have felt it. That if you surround yourself with people who are more knowledgeable than yourself, you are going to go ahead. And I think a lot of people, in the Kenyan perspective, are afraid that if you teach somebody a new skill, you're threatened they'll replace your job. But I'd like to say here, for me it was totally different. Completely opposite,” he said.
Juzer, who holds multiple professional qualifications - ACCA (UK), ICPS (Kenya), and CPA (K) - and whose career spans nearly four decades, noted that doing so allowed him as a CFO to learn other skills, including operational, management, business development, and financial management, which have positioned him as an influencer in the business.
