The interviews for the CFO Awards, CHRO Awards and CIO Awards have concluded, after nominations poured in for the top executives in finance, human resources and IT.
“The Awards are the annual highlight of every executive’s calendar, and with good reason,” says Sungula Nkabinde, the head of communities for Executive Communities South Africa. “They recognise excellence in finance, HR, and IT leadership, and give these executives the opportunity to reflect on the successes they’ve achieved and the challenges they’ve overcome.”
Nominations are sent in for each of the communities: CFO South Africa, CHRO South Africa, CIO South Africa and CFO East Africa. Nominees are then interviewed, their interviews are transcribed, and delivered to the respective judges (there is a different panel of judges made up of leaders in each industry for each Awards process), who read and score them, explains Georgina Guedes, head of people, brand and governance at Executive Communities.
“Executive Communities does not decide the winners. These panels of leading experts from the industry rate the responses to the two-hour, multiple-section interviews to determine the winners in the various categories and the overall winners.”
It is a thorough process, at the end of which the whole community is excited to get together for “a really great year-end bash,” says Sungula.
For the Executive Communities team, it’s also the opportunity to gain unparalleled insights into the state of the finance, HR and IT professions at the highest level.
CHRO Awards in South Africa, 24 November 2026, Johannesburg
First up this year are the annual CHRO Awards in South Africa, which will honour the chief human resources officers of listed companies, large corporations, state-owned institutions, and government institutions for their outstanding performance and leadership.
This year’s “HR Oscars” has seen a surge of nominations in nominations for younger CHROs and public sector HR executives. “This is a fantastic testament to a broadening and maturing HR community that is becoming genuinely more diverse and inclusive,” says CHRO SA community manager Kgaogelo Letsebe.
Kgaogelo adds that there are two takeaways from this year’s nominee interviews. “First, HR has officially left the ‘support function’ label behind. CHROs are right at the steering wheel as true business partners, directly driving business optimisation and sharper operational outcomes. It’s brilliant to see such a strong focus on building serious workforce capability and stepping up leadership effectiveness.”
The second learning is the struggle to deploy AI programmes across a diversified workforce. “HR leaders are essentially asking vastly different groups of people to fundamentally rewrite how they do their jobs,” explains Kgaogelo. “The challenge isn't about AI replacing their jobs but about keeping up with the pace of change.”
CIO Awards in South Africa, 25 November 2026, Johannesburg
There is tough competition this year, says Nomahlubi Sonjica, community manager for CIO South Africa, “indicated by the high number of nominees from top companies”. Reflecting on the interview process, she says the nominees were well prepared. “They take the process seriously and appreciate being nominated.”
Nominations streamed in for IT executives from both large and small companies, says Nomahlubi, who appreciates that this way, those eligible for the the Young CIO of the Year category, in particular, are not disadvantaged if they represent a smaller concern.
This year’s process was a little different, with the addition of some elective categories, which is something new for the CIO Awards, she says.
Last year’s awards honoured top IT executives from Absa (CITO of the Year), Unisa (Public Sector CIO of the Year), Metropolitan Life (Young CIO of the Year), Nutun, Mr Price Group, and Philip Morris International, illustrating the diversity of sectors and categories featured. This year’s ceremony in Johannesburg promises to be every bit as prestigious.
CFO Awards in South Africa, 26 November 2026, Johannesburg
What stood out for CFO South Africa community manager Thekiso Lefifi when it came to the nominations for the CFO Awards? The remarkable resilience and adaptability of the nominees, he says. “South African CFOs operate in a highly complex environment marked by economic pressure (with pedestrian economic growth), geopolitical uncertainty, and rapid technological change, yet these leaders are finding innovative ways to unlock growth and strengthen their organisations. Like the ducks at Joburg’s Emmarentia Dam, they look calm on the surface but they are actually frantically paddling in a difficult environment underneath.
Thekiso also notes a greater recognition of CFOs who are creating impact beyond their own businesses, whether through stronger governance, people development, or contributing to the broader sustainability agenda.
Many interviewees selected Finance & Technology as their elective category, with the Finance & ESG category coming a close second. “This, for me, is telling,” says Thekiso. “I think it highlights their conscience, and that they are intent on staying abreast of technological advances, and evolving, as artificial intelligence continues to suck up oxygen in the reshaping of operating models and decision-making frameworks.”
A key takeaway from this year’s nominations is that the CFO has become the organisation’s chief navigator of uncertainty. “The nominees spoke about their role in driving business transformation, improving organisational agility, and influencing decisions at the highest levels of their companies. In other words, they are professional ball-jugglers,” quips Thekiso. “They are very awake to the fact that their profession faces criticism following the spotlight on it at the Madlanga Commission of Enquiry, but they refuse to have a few bad apples be poster boys for the profession. They seem big on providing value for their teams and the companies.”
CFO Awards in East Africa, 26 November 2026, Nairobi
Following on from an extremely successful inaugural CFO Awards in 2025, CFO East Africa is delighted to proceed with the 2026 instalment of the event.
“The CFO Awards is in its second year in East Africa, and has already gained recognition as the premier celebration of excellence in finance leadership across the region,” says Executive Communities East Africa director KC Rottok Chesaina. “We are excited to host the second annual ceremony this year in Nairobi, and to see the community coming together to honour the individuals and teams shaping the future of finance.”
He says that the fact that the first Awards were a raving success has resulted in heightened interest from the community. “Last year’s rip-roaring success has led to a high number of nominations this year.”
Finance executives faced a rigorous nomination and interview process, answering questions relating to strategy execution, finance transformation, compliance and governance, as well as on leading high-performance teams. Further, they were asked to select questions from and answer in one of three more categories: Finance & ESG, Finance & Technology, and the Beyond Finance.
“From a topic point of view, the Beyond Finance category has proven to be a popular elective with CFOs keen to showcase their achievements outside of work and really challenging the notion that finance people are boring people in suits,” says KC.
Ten awards will be announced on the night, led by the category of CFO of the Year, and it promises to be a night of honouring excellence from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda in a glittering ceremony.