EC Chamber crowns seasoned financial professional as BOTY

NOCAWE Makiwane, executive director of AM Mfolozi Group Holdings, a financial and funeral services company, has been awarded Businesswoman of the Year 2022/2023, by The Eastern Cape Chamber of Business (ECCOB). Her award is in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Eastern Cape economy.

The Eastern Cape Chamber of Business hosted its 5th annual business awards and fundraising dinner on December 2, 2022, at the Hotel Savoy & Conference Center in uMthatha. It is a prestigious event that recognises the hard work, job creation and passion of South African businesses in the Eastern Cape. The awards honour those who continue to make the Eastern Cape proud and who have made strides in every direction to create a better world for many poor South Africans, through the creation of jobs in the part of our country that has no meaningful economic activity.

Makiwane is also the CEO of National Funeral Undertakers Investment Company (NAFUICO) which is the holding company of 21^st Century Life, a funeral and events services company she acquired with other entrepreneurs six years ago, which seeks to consolidate the funeral services industry. This consolidation would be achieved by:

1. Participating in the value chain of the funeral industry
2. Bringing critical skills in the industry that are currently lacking, especially the financial, governance, strategy planning and implementation skills.
3. And many other corporate skills needed to professionalize the
4. Makiwane is a seasoned and prominent businesswoman with extensive experience in the financial services sector. She deepened her experience in insurance after joining her family business, AM Mfolozi Group Holdings, a company that invests in the funeral She worked in the Asset Management industry for 15 years, under Stanlib Asset Managers, Coronation Asset Managers, and Gensec. During her tenure at Stanlib, Makiwane was responsible for managing over R2 billion in assets on behalf of institutional clients as a portfolio manager and investment analyst. She has been a non-executive director for several companies including EMIRA, which is a listed property company. She is also a former non-executive director of Rural Housing Loan Fund, Sentech, Eastern Cape Parks Board, National Housing Finance Corporation, National Electricity Regulator of South Africa, Advantage Asset Management, Strate and Scientia Financial Services.

During the dinner and after accepting her award, Makiwane said, “I am very honored to receive this award from the ECCOB. I receive this award on behalf of the pioneers of the funeral industry in this Province on whose shoulders I stand. I know that achieving this success would not have been possible without the dedication and cooperation of all AM Mfolozi Group Holdings and National Funeral Undertakers Investment Company partners and staff and it is their continuous zeal and passion that inspires us all and helps move both companies forward. As an organisation, we are always looking for ways to improve our performance as far as operational efficiency is concerned.”

At the ceremony, a total of 35 awards were handed to Eastern Cape businesspeople operating within the province and beyond by MEC Mvoko together with the OR District Executive Mayor, Cllr Mesuli Ngqondwana.