The highest-paid Chief Financial Officer (CFO) among the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed companies in 2019 was Safaricom’s Sateesh Kamath, who earned Ksh102.3 million (Kshs280,247 per day)!
Traditionally, the role of the CFO was mainly overseeing book-keeping, management accounting, financial reporting, and statutory compliance. Thus, the CFO was more of a support function, and the strategy was left to the other executives.
Today’s CFO is different in that he or she drives a company’s strategic direction. The CFO must be able to use the available data to guide the company, identify and mitigate risks, and provide leadership, in addition to the traditional roles that are equally important but can largely be automated.
LitKenya.com’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) pay ranking and the highlights are listed below:
- Safaricom CFO Sateesh Kamath was the highest-paid in 2019, at Ksh102.3 million or Ksh280,247 per day;
- On average CFOs earn 46 per cent of the CEOs’ pay;
- The top four CFOs account for 55 per cent of the total;
- The service sector is the place for big bucks;
- Gender representation remains low, with only three women (23 per cent) of the 13 CFOs disclosed in the NSE-listed companies.
- Several companies on the NSE don’t have CFOs on the board of directors. Either the role has been downgraded or non-disclosure is for strategic reasons.
