I grew up mixed race in apartheid South Africa. My parents made sacrifices for me and my sister and encouraged us to excel. In the school holidays, I did extra maths, which I excelled at, so it made sense to go down the accountancy route at university. I have always been quite driven as I knew I needed to succeed in life to change my situation.

After school, I was awarded a scholarship from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, an NGO that supported African women studying degrees considered scarce at the time. The scholarship enabled me to go to university in Johannesburg. Someone giving you a little push at the right time can have life-changing consequences.

The world is constantly changing but the topics covered in the ICAS training are relevant to what is going on now. Strategy, cybersecurity and communicating financial information with impact are critical themes for accountancy in the modern world.

It’s easy to get so stuck in the detail of revenue and profitability that you miss the drivers and trends of the business. This means taking the big-picture view but also being able to dive down into the detail if necessary.

You can see numbers in a table, but they don’t necessarily tell you what’s behind them. Instead, look at how your orders on the ground are driving the revenue. What is a company doing in terms of marketing campaigns or loyalty subscription programmes?

“Wildlife crime is financial crime, associated with money laundering, tax evasion and corruption”

Make the story relevant to the customers you’re looking to attract. Give tangible examples of how working with you would be of benefit to them. This builds the customer’s understanding of the commercial aspects of your business. Show them the opportunity and that there is a need for the product you are offering.

Look after your stakeholders to build trust, whether that’s investors, analysts, decision-makers within your company or government officials.

Simplify your message. You might think you’re the best company and everybody should know who you are, but other people have their own priorities. You need to get your pitch across in a short space of time.

Many CEOs and CFOs are focused on operations, so they need you as a sounding board and strategic partner to help shape and deliver the company’s story. I enjoy my role as it exposes me to all business areas – finance, operations, sustainability, competitive intelligence, capital markets and industry trends.

Try to think about how your investors will perceive a specific transaction: will they like it or not? Take our recent acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway. Some investors believe strongly in online food delivery, and they would be quite bullish about us taking this company and trying to reinvigorate growth. Others might feel it was too expensive or want to know why we wanted to take that company on. In the second case, you take a measured approach – outline your strategy and how you plan to add value. Give the market reassurance and have conviction you can drive results.

Growing up in South Africa you meet people from many different cultures. Understanding people’s differences has made me a better person and expanded my perspective on different approaches to business and life. And being a CA has given me the privilege of visiting 30 different countries during my career. It has also helped me to work in a multinational company like Prosus.

Every 15 minutes an elephant is slaughtered for its ivory – that’s another thing I learnt from my childhood in South Africa. Rhinos too, and other innocent, beautiful animals. The WJC is trying to disrupt criminal networks and I wanted to put my hand up and help.

I wanted to give something back and believed I had skills that I could offer something to an NGO such as the WJC. I’m based in the Netherlands, and the International Criminal Court is in the Hague, which is why the WJC set up there.

There are four major areas of international crime – drug trafficking, people trafficking, firearms and wildlife. The other three get most of the attention. Often it’s left to conservationists to deal with wildlife crime. We try to get governments behind the idea that animals also deserve to be on this planet. Even when wildlife criminals are caught, some get such a short sentence they’re soon back on the streets.

WCJ receives funding from high-profile donors who expect you to be a good custodian of their money and want you to drive the funds into the areas it’s intended for. Wildlife crime is financial crime, associated with money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.

“Someone giving you a little push at the right time can have life-changing consequences”

I became involved in Prosus's TechFoundHER initiative – a programme to address the funding gap that means fewer women than men receive investment – because it aligns with my core belief about helping people to help themselves. I reviewed applications from women tech founders across Africa and hosted the event at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, where we showcased these entrepreneurs tackling real-world challenges through technology. The innovations included face recognition technology for livestock management and AI-powered tools that detect crop pests and prescribe treatments before damage occurs. The founders received equity-free grants, exposure and networking opportunities.

We don’t all need to be AI developers, but we do need to embrace what AI can do and be prepared to try it out.

My husband’s family is from Edinburgh, and we visit Scotland a lot. I love the rich history and breathtaking scenery in the Highlands, but mostly the welcoming locals who always make you feel at home. Studying at Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt deepened my appreciation for the city’s vibrant festivals and cosy pubs.

 Prosus Group

For more resources, visit ICAS ethical insights