NuMobile has built something genuinely rare. The question is who can scale it.
A payroll-deduction distribution rail anchored by employer relationships is a structural moat in the South African market. The 86% collections ratio is not evidence that the model is broken — it is evidence that the operational layer has not kept pace with the commercial opportunity. Fix the collections, scale the employer acquisition engine, and layer on adjacent revenue. That is the path from R150m to R350m+ in three years.
I have spent 30 years building the specific capabilities this transition requires. Regional P&L management and distribution channel execution at scale (Cell C), data-driven turnaround methodology (Mondelez), and non-profit business rescue governance (SAIW). This is not a generalist applying for a specialist role. This is a specialist who has been building towards this role for a decade.
Four reasons this is the right fit — backed by evidence, not aspiration.
My career has been a deliberate accumulation of the exact capabilities NuMobile needs: distribution channel management and regional P&L at scale (Cell C), data-driven turnaround methodology (Mondelez), and non-profit business rescue governance (SAIW). No other CEO candidate in the South African market has this specific combination.
The 86% collections ratio is not a product problem or a market problem. It is a data and process problem. At Mondelez, I recovered 30 EBIT points in 36 months using exactly this methodology: root cause diagnosis, data-driven fix, operating rhythm, and accountability. The same approach applies here.
At Cell C, the Western Cape Managing Executive position was vacant. The region was the business's most significant performance problem — underperforming across all channels, dragging national results. The same structural situation NuMobile faces today: a critical function underperforming, a leadership vacancy, a business that cannot grow until it is resolved. Led the management team through root cause analysis, channel and product analysis, and distribution fixes. Built analytics for the team and channel partners. Met with partners, agreed plans and incentives, drove execution. The Western Cape grew 23% in Year 1 and 117% over five years. Applied the same methodology across three other regions — Cell C achieved record growth and profits nationally by end of 2016.
I have served on boards since 2009 (Kraft Foods). I understand what a data room looks like, what an IRR narrative requires, and how to build a valuation story. Anuva's exit thesis is not an abstract concept — it is a deliverable I know how to build.