PwC SA appoints Shirley Machaba as first woman CEO

Accounting firm PwC had appointed Shirley Machaba as its new chief executive officer for southern Africa effective from July 1, the first black African woman to be appointed in this role.

Machaba will take over from Dion Shango who held the post from July 2015 but has now been elected as CEO for PwC Africa.

Commenting on the appointment, Shango said, “PwC believes Shirley has the leadership skills, experience and influence to lead PwC Southern Africa in the coming years”.

“We believe that Shirley is an excellent choice to lead our local firm, especially as the business continues to explore new areas of growth and development across Africa.”

PROFILE OF SHIRLEY MACHABA

Machaba, is a chartered accountant (CA) and chartered director southern Africa, has been a partner in PwC’s assurance services division for over 15 years and has over 26 years of internal and external audit, risk management, compliance and governance experience within the private and public sectors.

In 2013 she was a finalist in the ‘Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government’ awards and was honoured by African Women Chartered Accountants as ‘Audit Partner of the Year’ in 2016.

She was honoured by the South African Professional Services Awards as the ‘Big 4 Professional of the Year’, as well as being named the overall ‘Woman Professional of the Year’ in February 2018. She is also a nominee for the 2018 ‘Business Women of the Year’ BWA award to be announced before the end of the year.

PwC has a presence in 34 Africa countries with an office footprint covering 66 offices. With a single Africa leadership team and more than 400 partners and 9,000 professionals across Africa, the company serves some of the continent’s largest businesses across all industries.