Cold Solutions CFO and 2025 Finance and ESG Award winner Jackline Engefu Aluda explains why the modern CFO must transcend the traditional.
Every single day during the six-month wait ahead of the 2025 CFO Awards ceremony for East Africa, Jackline Engefu Aluda's youngest son said the same prayer. Let mom win the CFO award. Over and over, without fail. Although the nine-year-old did not understand what makes one CFO stand out from another, he believed his mother should win. After she won, he began to say a different prayer.
“These days, he says thank you God because she won. My sons like to Google me or search for me on Gemini AI. They would say, who is Jackline Aluda. And it would start telling them about who I am. They like doing that a lot,” she said.
In a corner booth at CJ’s at the Waterfront in Karen, sunlight streaming through the windows, Jackline described the six months between her 2025 CFO Awards interview and the Finance & ESG Award announcement as an exercise in patience. For the first time in years, she had to stop and consider the impact she had made in finance and the spaces she occupied.
“It was more than just winning, you know. What’s the impact in my life and, of course, the organisation and the people around me in any space I find myself?” she elaborated.
The award was recognition for Jackline’s role in the installation of a 1.4 MWp solar PV system at Cold Solutions Kenya that earned Africa its first cold-storage LEED Gold certification. During the process, Jackline had to master technical details that normally sit outside a finance person’s domain. Her investors split into two camps. Some cared about carbon emissions and environmental impact, while others wanted pure commercial returns.
“I told Absa I needed a letter of credit to support this initial implementation. The investors asked if I was sure I did not require not even a single dime from them to kick start the project. I said, not at the inception because it’s a leasing arrangement," she remarked.
By the bootstraps
When she was supposed to start university, Jackline’s father fell ill. Although she had been accepted to study law at Moi University in Eldoret, a CPA certification seemed the more practical option, as she could complete it quickly. While her peers attended lectures, she taught herself accounting and then worked her way through a BCom and a master’s.
“I remember during one of the classes, the class representative made an announcement. Please let your parents know that those who haven’t paid their fees should pay by this date. We told him, our parents are not even aware we are here because we are paying for ourselves. It was hilarious, but you’re just trying to make a point,” she said.
After dabbling in fintech, Jackline ventured into real estate before eventually joining the Cold Chain Logistics Industry at Cold Solutions Kenya, where she now serves as the group CFO. At her interview, a director asked why she kept switching sectors.
“I had never asked myself that question until she asked me. And I told her at that moment, I’m here to learn more about the industry, so that I’ll be able to add value in whatever space of finance. Because ultimately, finance is finance. It doesn’t matter where you are going, it’s always the same thing,” she explained.
During the years she spent working in real estate, Jackline was often the only woman in senior leadership meetings or board presentations. She learnt early that external validation and battling to drive a point home rarely worked. The key was collaboration.
“Be yourself and remember that you are a woman and be proud of it, even if it's going to the board with your pink blazer, put it on and walk with your head high and walk into that because it’s about what you’re bringing on the table. You know your strengths; you know your weaknesses. Don’t be ashamed of being vulnerable,” she noted.
Listen to understand
She described the danger of a traditional CFO as becoming only a gatekeeper. To move beyond that, she advised that understanding the business in a full cycle is key. She reflected on a story about a critical deal where the commercial team was stuck. When they brought her into the discussion as a last resort, she listened to the CEO’s frustration and mirrored back what she had heard.
“I told him: I think I’m getting your pain points. One, you want to save costs. Two, you want to make a strategic move. And then the third, you want to look for a partner where it’s a win-win and an open book conversation. That's how the business was given to us. Listen to understand, but not to respond,” she explained.
The second youngest of 10, who spent her young adult life in Kibera – Africa’s largest informal settlement – believes everyone deserves a certain level of livelihood regardless of where they were born. In 2018, she joined the Association of Women Accountants and learnt they sponsored students from Korogocho. She asked the chairperson for permission to meet them, to sit and share her experience. The organisation gave her 10 students and a boardroom at the offices of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
“I decided to be creative and look for a movie. The Pursuit of Happiness. And then I said, there are only 10, so I can make snacks and beverages in my house and then carry them along. I wanted to tell them that despite where I have reached, things were not presented to me on a silver platter. There’s been a struggle, the ups and downs and stuff. Their teachers reported improvements in class performance. The philosophy behind it is that it’s not about me, it’s also about the next person,” she said.
For Jackline, the milestones have never been the point on their own. What stays with her is the steady work of showing up and trying to leave every space better than she found it.
“It has always been about the disposition to learn daily and create value in the spaces I enter. I believe leadership is all about making a difference in the lives of people. If my life proves anything, it is the realisation that where you begin does not define how far you can reach in life. It is about the intentional decisions taken to own your life and build something out of it by the Grace of God.”
