Nonkululeko Nyembezi becomes first woman to chair financial services group
LEADING pan-African financial services group Alexander Forbes yesterday appointed Nonkululeko Nyembezi as its independent non-executive chairperson with effect from January 1, next year.
Nyembezi will become the first woman to chair the group following the unceremonious resignation of former chairperson-elect Moses Kgosana in July.
Nyembezi currently serves as the independent non-executive chairperson of the JSE.
Yesterday, she said she would relinquish her current board memberships in Old Mutual plc and Old Mutual Group Holdings.
Nyembezi said she was looking forward to implement the group’s Ambition 2022 growth strategy.
“Alexander Forbes has a strong and capable management team led by Andrew Darfoor,” Nyembezi said.
“With the support of the board, I am confident of the successful implementation of the strategy for the benefit of our clients, employees, shareholders and investors and the wider community in which our businesses operate.”
Alexander Forbes unveiled the strategy in July, saying that it aimed to focus on helping customers achieve a lifetime of financial well-being and security.
The group said it also wanted to clean up its image and to become a trusted partner for financial solutions for every stage, successfully shifting towards operating as a leaner, more focused group.
Nyembezi’s appointment marks the end of the chapter that erupted following revelations that Kgosana attended the lavish Gupta wedding at Sun City in 2013 while still KPMG chief executive.
Outgoing chairperson Sello Moloko said that Alexander Forbes was privileged to have such a highly regarded professional with extensive business and leadership experience as Nyembezi to chair the company’s board.
“I leave the board at a particularly exciting time when the company is implementing Ambition 2022,” Moloko said.
“I am confident that under the collective leadership of group chief executive officer, Andrew Darfoor, and Ms Nyembezi, Alexander Forbes will be able to meet its strategic goals.”
Moloko’s extended term ended at the end of last month.
The group said Mark Collier would assume the role of the interim non-executive chairperson until the end of the year.
He is currently the lead independent director, chairperson of the remuneration and nominations committees, and a member of the audit committee of Alexander Forbes.
Nyembezi joins Alexander Forbes as the group intensifies its management overhaul in a bid to regain public confidence.
In September, the company appointed Naidene Ford-Hoon as group chief financial officer, Christian Schaub as group chief human resources officer and Thabo Mashaba as group chief empowerment and transformation officer.
Ford-Hoon joined the group from the South African Reserve Bank where she was group chief financial officer, while Schaub joined from the Marsh and McLennan companies, where he was the global change leader, human resources transformation, based in New York.
Alexander Forbes also appointed Michael Weiss as group head of strategy, mergers and acquisitions and a member of the group executive committee, while Carina Wessels joined the firm as the new group company secretary.