Maiden Financial Officers Forum to be held in September
Regulus CFO Forum is set to host its maiden forum for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) aimed at bringing the work of the forum to the forefront and providing a networking platform for them.
The Regulus CFO Forum is a new series of interactions that seeks to highlight opportunities for partnerships, strategic insights and business networking for finance officers.
Founded and directed by Hitesh Makhija, Chief Financial Controller at Olam Ghana Limited, the forum aims to be the best CFO networking platform in Ghana with a membership of at least 20 per cent of Ghana’s GDP contributing companies.
A statement issued to the GNA said the forum is the first of its kind in Ghana.
The maiden session of the one-day forum would come off in September, and would bring together CFO and Financial Directors of companies having businesses in Ghana across all sectors of the economy.
Mr Makhija explains that the Regulus CFO Forum would provide immense value to members through training of CFOs in the country on business strategies; create mentorship opportunities for new members; create a platform to share best practices; give CFOs advance information on valuable economic trends and activities; and provide high-value, in-touch events.
A 2015 survey report of CFOs published by KPMG, a leading audit firm, showed that CFOs faced a lot of challenges in their line of duty, including: exchange rate stability and the effect of these on prudent cost management, inability to predict changes in key macro-economic indicators, inadequate infrastructure and competence of available personnel.
“These are challenges, the Regulus CFO Forum seeks to address through meetings, forums, and conferences to enhance the works of CFOs,” he said.
While providing leadership to the business in finding the right balance between costs, value and risk, CFOs are also required to manage both internal and external pressures including increasing competitions, globalisation, shortage of skilled staff and budget constraints, the statement said.
Members and participants of the Regulus CFO Forum would also include finance controllers, heads of accounts, chief operating officers, heads of acquisitions, heads of business strategies, heads of emerging markets, and venture capitalists.
Mr Makhija added that to ensure efficiency in its activities, the group’s membership would be strictly by invitation, with current membership standing at 10 finance executives from top multinational companies in all sectors of the economy (except banking and financial institutions).
Mr Makhija added that the first 20 participating members would be pre-approved and recognised as founding members of the group.
“The maiden edition of Regulus CFO Forum is free for all members. Therefore, participants will be required to connect to the group’s LinkedIn account as its current mode of registration.
He said the forum is designed to “enhance businesses through the sharing of information, keep CFO actions on top of the mind of members, and create a network of financial experts and mentorship for beginners”.
As the Cluster Finance Controller, at Olam Ghana Limited, Hitesh Makhija, is finance professional with more than 12 years of diversified experience in manufacturing, supply chain, exports and imports and expertise in accounts, audit, finance, law and economics.
He gathered his experience from working in various countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore for six years and in Ghana for two years.
Source: GNA