attracted by the group’s owner-manager culture.’
Questioned about what legacy he is trying to build at FirstRand,
Nxasana responds: ‘I’m not really looking to build a legacy, except to
ensure that when I’m gone this business is on a very strong footing to
grow in the future.
‘I inherited an exceptional franchise and a fantastic management
team from the founders, Laurie (Dippenaar), Paul (Harris) and GT
(Ferreira), and I’ve focused on appropriately building on that legacy.
Especially the owner-manager culture, the innovation and the unique
business model,’ he explains.
In a society where South Africa’s historically disadvantaged
youth find it hard to identify solid black professionals, Nxasana has
demonstrated that he has the talent and skills to run a bank considered
to be one of the best performers in South Africa.
A qualified chartered accountant, Nxasana says his path to the
accounting profession was inspired by Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu.
Nkuhle, who qualified as the first African chartered accountant in
South Africa, was a lecturer at the University of Fort Hare where
Nxasana enrolled for a BCom Marketing degree. Nkuhlu was behind
the establishment of the Midlands Economic Equity Group (MEEG),
which owned the MEEG Bank in the Eastern Cape.
‘The accounting profession prepared me for corporate leadership
generally, not just in banking, but also in telecommunications as the
CEO of Telkom.’
Because of his choice to remain employed in the corporate sector,
one would question whether Nxasana has lacked the entrepreneurial
flair to start up his own business. But that idea is far from the truth.
Nxasana has transcended both the entrepreneurial and senior
executive worlds.
‘South Africa presents many opportunities for all in different
spheres of our economy. I believed I could make a contribution in
corporate South Africa,’ he explains.
Nxasana, who began his career at Unilever, started his own
auditing firm in KwaZulu-Natal in 1989. Seeing that there were no
audit firms owned and run by Africans in the region, Nxasana saw an
opportunity to establish Sizwe & Co., a firm which became the first
black-owned audit practice in KwaZulu-Natal.
The firm evolved into Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, and was the first
black-owned national accounting practice in South Africa, of which
Nxasana became its founding partner. Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba later
transformed into SizweNtsalubaGobodo (SNG), which is today
considered South Africa’s fifth-largest accounting firm.
His role as CEO of Telkom in 1998 brought about major career
transitions. Nxasana transformed Telkom into a corporate entity, and
under him the firm was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
in 2003.
Nxasana is passionate about improving the quality of education
in South Africa and says that scarce specialist and technical skills
continue to be an issue for the banking industry.
‘The number of high-quality CAs(SA) and actuaries coming into
the system is still not sufficient to fill all the vacancies that exist across
financial services,’ he points out.
Nxasana is a keen advocate of FirstRand’s proactive education
initiatives. ‘At FirstRand we have many initiatives aimed at up-skilling
‘Financial literacy can
improve the lives of many
South Africans, and banks
must empower customers
with the right information
to enable them to effectively
manage their financial affairs
and choose the right products
for their needs.’
young talent. From grassroots education, through our CSI spend, to
running our own graduate, CA(SA) and quants (analysing quantitative
data) training programmes. We are doing everything we can to ensure
a deep and sustainable pool of skills,’ he says.
He also points out that the core banking skills that South Africa’s
banking sector needs today will still be needed in 10 years’ time.
Nxasana believes that additional skills in technology will be needed by
the banking industry, as banking develops more electronic channels.
To contribute to skills development, FirstRand invests in scholarships
and bursaries. The FirstRand Foundation gives opportunities to
exceptional young South Africans to study postgraduate degrees
abroad through the FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar and Momentum
Dippenaar Scholarship programmes.
In the year ended June 2013, the investment value in bursary
and scholarship investments amounted to R12.9 million.
First National Bank (FNB), a division of FirstRand, also has an
early childhood development (ECD) programme. Between June
2012 and June 2013, the FNB Fund ECD programme exposed more
than 3 000 children to early childhood services for the first time
and supported more than 150 practitioners to obtaining an ECD
certificate.
FirstRand’s ECD investments amounted to R7.9 million. In
2012, Fi