Raisibe Morathi, newly appointed Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Vodacom Group.

Vodacom Group has announced Raisibe Morathi as its new Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective 1 November 2020, when she will also be appointed to the Vodacom Group Board.

In a statement released to the media, the operator said as one of the most experienced and one of very few African black female CFOs of a listed company in South Africa, Morathi's appointment "underscores Vodacom’s commitment to driving diversity across the workplace."

Morathi has acquired 26 years of experience, including 20 years in executive roles at institutions such as Industrial Development Corporation, Sanlam and Nedbank.

She succeeds Till Streichert following his departure in June 2020 and the interim appointment of Sitho Mdlalose as Group CFO.

Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group, said: “I am delighted to welcome Raisibe to the Vodacom Group, where she will drive and continue to modernise our finance operations as we position ourselves as a leading pan-African technology company. Raisibe has a proven track record in dealing competently with complex leadership challenges and driving strategic transformational change. Given Vodacom Group’s leadership position as a mobile money provider in Africa and our accelerated growth ambitions beyond traditional Telco services, Raisibe’s extensive financial services experience makes her an excellent addition to the Vodacom Group Board and Executive Committee (Exco).”

Commenting on her appointment, Morathi said: “I’m excited to be joining the Vodacom Group Board and Exco at a time when it has simplified its structure to drive increased focus across all of its international territories. I look forward to leading a high-performing Finance team, driving the function’s strategic digital transformation and contributing to the future success of the Group.”

Shameel added: “I would like to thank Sitho Mdlalose for his significant contribution as interim Group Chief Financial Officer during a time that happened to coincide with the unprecedented global pandemic. In his new role as CFO of Vodacom South Africa (VSA), Sitho will have dual reporting lines into Raisibe and Balesh Sharma, designate CEO of VSA.”

Raisibe is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and has also completed an Advanced Management Programme (AMP) with INSEAD (France). Her other qualifications include a Higher Diploma in Taxation (Wits University) and she is currently a few months away from completing her Masters in Philosophy (Corporate Strategy) at GIBS.