Elize Kirsten - University of Pretoria Lecturer
Winner - The CFO Brand Ambassador Contest 2016

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Elize is a Lecturer at the University of Pretoria in the Department of Financial Management. She worked with the students tirelessly, encouraging them to work on the case study and produce good reports with the main goal of bringing real-world business challenges into the classroom for students to address, and create a context for discussing and analysing business issues that are seldom amenable to traditional teaching methods. She provided unending support to the teams and is a good example of what is expected of a Brand Ambassador. As it stands, one of her teams, Team UP 116 is in the Top 6 heading to the Semi-Finals at the JSE on the 13th of October 2016!

Elize said, “The CFO Case Study Competition was a great learning experience for my students. Not only could they apply their technical knowledge to a real-

world scenario,  it was also an opportunity to develop and showcase their leadership skills and the ability to work in a team. I will definitely encourage my students to enter The CFO Case Study Competition next year!” The CFO Brand Ambassador Contest participants were asked to encourage aspirants to enter The CFO Case Study Competition, and submit a report. The Brand Ambassador with the highest number of good reports submitted by teams they entered was to be awarded with the title and a cash prize of ZAR 10,000.

There were 75 entrants representing 320 teams from 25 countries and 53 academic institutions. The contest was well matched, as the brand ambassadors got to work, motivating the teams to push through the challenging and stimulating case study. However, Elize Kirsten from University of Pretoria outpaced the other participants to emerge the undisputed winner of this year’s contest!

Johannesburg, Gauteng – 13 & 14 October 2016 – Mark these dates on your calendar as they will be the semi-finals and global finals of The CFO Case Study Competition 2016 respectively. The semi-finals will take place at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) while the global finals will be hosted at the Finance Indaba Africa2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre - where the award for The CFO Brand Ambassador Contest will be handed to Elize! 

Nti, the Executive Director said, “We congratulate Elize Kirsten for this remarkable achievement and for her genuine support for the students she encouraged to enter by working hard to incorporate the case study as an integral part of the university curriculum.”

What’s next? Well, we have just entered Round 2

(Public Votes) of the competition. The top 6 teams have submitted 3 minute 2-part videos introducing their teams, why they entered, setting out their hopes and dreams including how The CFO Case Study Competition has and could assist their future career. The videos serve to convince why the public should vote for their respective teams. They are now live on broadcast & social media and will be for over 60 days for the public to have their say by voting for the best video. The team with the highest votes from the public will earn 2 points to their credit going into Round 3. To view all videos and vote now, click here.  

About The CFO Case Study Competition

The CFO Case Study Competition is Africa's premier and much-anticipated annual global event that brings together students, young professionals, universities, professional bodies, policy makers and big business for one purpose: to inspire the next generation of CFOs & Global Business Leaders. It is an integral part of the Finance Indaba Africa Expo, the largest gathering of finance and allied professionals and businesses on the continent. The Competition started on the 1st of November 2015 with team entries, going through round 1, 2 and then reaching a crescendo in round 3 and 4, this being when the final 6 teams battle it out live in South Africa at the semi-finals and global finals on the 13th and 14th of October 2016 at the JSE and the Sandton Convention Center (SCC) respectively. These two days will be action-packed as the teams contest for a ZAR100, 000 cash prize and prove their mettle as the world's best of the best!