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3rd Annual CFO Africa:

Finance Reinvented

2-4 September 2020

South Africa

What our delegates think of us:

Curo Fund Service

Digitalisation: The Catalyst For Transformation

How can the finance department as a whole enhance strategic decision-making for a more accurate plan in order to increase profitability of an organization?

In my role as CFO, I have always encouraged my team to be involved in as many business-wide discussions and decision-making forums as possible. Due to the nature of our function, we have access to more data (both financial and non-financial) than any other function in the business and as long as we are able to organise and interpret the data, we are best placed to provide insights and enhance strategic development and deployment.

The new financial mandate is widening the remit for the finance function which turns the above expectations from a nice-to-have to a non-negotiable. It has never been more important for the finance function to adopt an enterprise mindset, cultivate collaboration and challenge the status quo.

How do you balance the traditional responsibilities with the new financial mandate as a finance professional?

Robust and unbending processes and  people within the controls and governance area of finance are paramount. Within my team, we encourage a healthy paranoia to ensure that we continue to do everything we can to safeguard our business and provide timely, accurate data in order to enable better and faster decision-making across the entire business.

As we move deeper into the new financial mandate, these traditional responsibilities will be just as crucial as they were yesterday and are today, yet, automation, the removal of manual intervention and better system integration will further tighten financial controls and drastically improve efficiency allowing more time in the finance function to partner with the rest of the business and drive insights and actions.

What are the implications on financial governance to the region as a whole with the new financial mandate?

Digitalisation will continue to make governance risks increasingly sophisticated and larger in potential financial loss. A study by Accenture found that the total value at risk of cybercrime over the next five years will be in excess of 5 trillion USD. This risk will be as prevalent, if not more, in Africa as it is across the rest of the world given the continent’s current standing in regards to fraud and corruption.

That being said, digitalisation can also be a catalyst for transformation on the continent. As a case in point, the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has huge potential to unlock growth of the 54 countries signed up to the agreement but has already been hindered by a lack of infrastructure, no common regulation and bureaucracy – this is as true in general as it is within the area of finance. Digitalisation can play a significant role in removing these barriers by creating common systems, processes & controls to improve the ease, transparency and speed of trade.

Our General Manager, Helen Joubert, recently gave a speech at the Consumer Goods Council SA (CGCSA) Summit on the importance of ethical leadership, and this must underpin everything we do in order to ensure good governance across the region.

Why is a digitally savvy finance leader important?

The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts there will be 133 million new jobs created by 2022 that will involve the complete interaction between humans, machines and algorithms. This means that not only the nature of finance roles will change, so will the skillset needed.

Coupled with the notion that we are in a period where change is exponential, it is imperative for finance leaders to keep abreast and adapt timeously in key areas such as (i) ensuring the roles within the organization are relevant and future-proofed (ii) ensuring the capability of employees and potential recruits are applicable and (iii) maximizing information, data and systems to shift the finance function to more commercially value-adding tasks.

How do the finance professionals cope with digitalisation?

World Bank data shows that global unemployment is at its lowest level since 1994. If you then overlay the idea that we are in the most digitally-automated era ever, then it is logical to suggest that digitalization aids the creation of jobs rather than the replacement of. As a result, finance professionals must first accept that automation and digitalisation are enablers to their work rather than a replacement of.

This mindset shift, coupled with comprehensive training, will allow finance professionals to not just cope but thrive under digitalisation. Nonetheless, various studies show that more than 50% of company data is ‘dark data’ – that is, data collected by an organization but not used – with one of the top three drivers cited for this as a lack of necessary skills to synthesize the data. As a result, we have a huge opportunity to maximise value from what already exists today by developing new and more pertinent competencies for the finance function.

Imagine what will be possible for the profession with live data, fully-automated processes and instant reporting, and how much capacity this will unlock to deliver insights and drive change across the organization and the industry.

For registration pricing and multiple attendee discounts, please contact:

Shahlini 
ShahliniM@marcusevanskl.com 

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