DRS Buffalo Ventures (DBV) – Pan-African Investment Platform
About DBV
DRS Buffalo Ventures (DBV) is a pan-African investment platform headquartered in Lusaka, Zambia, building and scaling a portfolio of microfinance and fintech companies across Sub-Saharan Africa. The current portfolio spans Mozambique (Caixa Mulher MCB), Tanzania (Laina Finance), Zambia (GateOne, Stargate), Malawi (Swift Digital) and Zimbabwe (Chisquare Financial Services), with active market-entry work underway in Kenya and Nigeria. DBV is now building out its Group HQ function and is seeking a Group CFO to lead the finance function across the platform.
Role Purpose
The Group CFO will own DBV’s consolidated financial strategy, reporting, and capital structuring across a multi-country, multi-currency portfolio of regulated microfinance institutions and fintechs. This is a newly created seat at Group HQ, reporting directly to the CEO/Chairman, with responsibility for building the finance function from the ground up — including hiring and managing country-level finance leads over time — while serving as the Board’s primary point of financial oversight across the portfolio.
Key Responsibilities
Group Financial Strategy & Reporting
- Own consolidated financial reporting across all portfolio companies, standardizing reporting formats, KPIs, and reporting cadence group-wide.
- Prepare Board- and investor-facing financial packs, shareholder KPI reports, and periodic performance dashboards.
- Develop and maintain the Group’s financial model, budget, and multi-year forecasts in line with DBV’s expansion roadmap.
Capital Structuring & Treasury
- Assist capital structuring for new acquisitions and follow-on investments, including debt/equity mix and instrument selection (loan agreements, convertible instruments, equity).
- Design and implement FX and devaluation-risk protection mechanisms for hard-currency exposure in markets such as Mozambique and Zimbabwe (e.g. devaluation collars, FX-indexed repayment structures).
- Manage group treasury, banking relationships, and intercompany funding flows across jurisdictions.
Deal & Due Diligence Leadership
- Assist in financial due diligence on new market entries and acquisitions (currently Kenya and Nigeria), applying DBV’s six-phase deal framework.
- Own valuation methodology for MFI targets, including loan-book valuation, EBITDA-multiple structuring, and NAV-floor mechanics used in DBV’s buyback and leaver clauses.
- Support deal structuring and negotiation alongside the CEO and legal counsel, including term sheets, shareholder agreements, and earn-out/leaver provisions.
Governance, Risk & Compliance
- Serve as the Group’s primary financial governance point across regulated entities, coordinating with country-level Boards and regulators (central banks, microfinance authorities).
- Ensure statutory, tax, and regulatory compliance across all operating jurisdictions, working with local counsel and auditors.
- Own group-wide financial risk management, including credit risk (NPL monitoring), liquidity risk, and FX risk frameworks.
Team & Function Build-Out
- Build the Group HQ finance function, including recruiting and managing country-level finance leads across the portfolio.
- Establish group-wide financial policies, controls, and systems (chart of accounts, consolidation tooling, reporting standards), and KPI reporting.
Required Qualifications:
- Professional accounting qualification (CFA, CA, ACCA, CPA or equivalent).
- 10+ years of progressive finance leadership experience, including at least 3–5 years in a CFO, Group Finance Director, or comparable senior finance role.
- Prior experience in financial services, microfinance, fintech, or banking, ideally across multiple emerging-market jurisdictions.
- Demonstrated experience with multi-currency consolidation, FX risk management, and capital structuring for regulated entities.
- Experience leading or closely supporting M&A due diligence and deal structuring.
- Strong track record operating across Sub-Saharan African markets, including familiarity with central bank and microfinance regulatory regimes.
- Willingness to be based in Dubai, UAE, with regular regional travel across the DBV African portfolio.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Prior CFO or senior finance experience at a PE-backed or investment-platform structure, rather than a single operating company.
- Experience with loan management systems and digital/nano-lending economics.
- Existing network of banking, audit, and regulatory relationships across target African markets.
Compensation & Package
Compensation will be structured as a competitive cash package plus an bonus component in line with DBV’s platform-level incentive design — a meaningful differentiator versus comparable corporate CFO roles in the region. Indicative benchmarking against East and Southern African markets, multi-country, PE-backed nature of the role, points to an all-in range broadly in the region of US$55,000–US$65,000, with the final package calibrated to the selected candidate’s experience and the sector premium associated with fintech/MFI platform roles. A milestone-based equity component may be structured, consistent with the framework used for other senior DBV/DRS Capital Ventures executive roles.
What DBV Offers
- A ground-floor leadership role in building the finance function of a fast-growing, pan-African investment platform.
- Direct exposure to the CEO/Chairman and Board, with genuine influence over group strategy and capital allocation.
- Bonus participation tied to platform growth milestones.
- A portfolio spanning six markets today, with active expansion into new geographies.
