Jason Quinn, the group finance director at Absa, has been named South Africa’s CFO of the Year at the 2020 CFO Awards.
This was announced on Wednesday 25 November at the conclusion of the annual gala event for finance executives, held at the spectacular Polo Room at the Inanda Club in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Jason was the big winner during the “Oscars for finance executives”, which celebrated its seventh edition this year. He scooped up three of the ten prizes, also winning the Strategy Execution Award and Moving into Africa Award.
Jason has been Absa’s group financial director for the past four years, having been the head of finance for two years before that.
He played an instrumental role in the separation of Absa from Barclays, a $1 billion (R15 billion) multi-year programme, which was successfully completed in June 2020 on a capital neutral basis. This constituted the largest bank separation program globally and included one of the largest corporate actions in the emerging market banking sector in recent times as Barclays sold down from a controlling stake of 63%.
The other big winner of the evening was Department of Trade, Industry and Competition CFO Shabeer Khan, who won the Young CFO of the Year Award, the Public Sector CFO Award and the Compliance & Governance Award.
Telkom CFO Tsholofelo Molefe walked away with the Finance Transformation Award and High-Performance Team Award. Adcock Ingram Holdings CFO Dorette Neethling won the Transformation & Empowerment Award, and King Price Insurance deputy CEO (FD at the time of judging)
won the Finance & Technology Award.
In compliance with Covid-19 social distancing protocols, the glittering ceremony was attended by a limited number of 150 South Africa’s top CFOs. Attendees were entertained by the host and world-renowned comedian Loyiso Madinga, and global speaker and futurist Craig Wing, who explored “stepping into the unknown”. Attendees were also treated to a sumptuous five-star dinner.
Full list of CFO Awards 2019 winners:
- CFO of the Year – Jason Quinn (Absa)
- Young CFO of the Year – Shabeer Khan (Department of Trade, Industry and Competition)
- Public Sector CFO of the Year – Shabeer Khan (Department of Trade, Industry and Competition)
- Strategy Execution Award – Jason Quinn (Absa)
- Transformation & Empowerment Award – Dorette Neethling (Adcock Ingram)
- High Performance Team Award – Tsholofelo Molefe (Telkom)
- Compliance & Governance Award – Shabeer Khan (Department of Trade, Industry and Competition)
- Finance Transformation Award – Tsholofelo Molefe (Telkom)
- Moving into Africa Award – Jason Quinn (Absa)
- Finance & Technology Award – Rhett Finch (King Price Insurance)
The annual CFO Awards are organised by CFO South Africa, the organisation that connects finance professionals through executive events, the quarterly CFO Magazine, CFO.co.za and social media channels. By helping CFOs share knowledge, exchange interests and open up business opportunities, CFO South Africa proudly contributes to the growth of the country.
