The big switch

After 14 years at drinks giant SABMiller/AB InBev, Boitumelo Paya FCCA made a big career decision last year, leaving not only her long-term employer but the drinks sector as a whole. It was interesting timing.

She joined Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) as CFO just as the country entered lockdown.

It was going to be a challenging-enough role, even without having to cope with remote working (her 90-strong team has been alternating between working in the office and working from home). BTC, the former state-owned telecoms provider at the leading edge of Botswana’s booming digital comms industry, is undergoing significant transformation (see panel, ‘Telco metamorphosis’).

‘It’s exciting and I love it,’ says Paya, who has been working to turn around the finance function.

Although she has spent most of her career with SABMiller/AB InBev, Paya considers herself fortunate to have enjoyed a variety of challenging roles with the group (see CV panel), which she joined in 2007 as finance manager at beer and soft drinks company Kgalagadi Breweries (KBL). After leaving Botswana for several years to broaden her experience at the group's UK head office and in Malawi, in 2018 she came full circle, returning to her home country and KBL as finance director – the first Botswanan national to occupy the position.

‘I’m someone who likes to see and understand her career path,’ she says.

Career crossroads

At that time the self-styled 'avid traveller' was still attracted by the idea of furthering her career with another posting abroad – either in Africa or further afield – and this possibility had been discussed. However, in late 2019, her sister and niece were tragically killed in a road accident. It changed everything for Paya, and she decided to remain in Botswana.

It sometimes takes a life-changing event to catalyse big career decisions, nonetheless Paya didn’t take the decision to switch from SABMiller/AB InBev to BTC lightly. She was initially unsure about the move, she says, given that she had enjoyed working in the diaspora. 'But following the demise of my sister and niece, I felt a need to be closer to family. And I realised that I had been presented with an opportunity to be part of the first privatised parastatal company in Botswana – and to be part of its transformation.'

Early years

Paya’s route to the top started as an audit trainee with KPMG, where she spent seven years. While there, she also completed her ACCA Qualification, which she believes confers many advantages.

‘The ACCA Qualification has done so much for me,’ she says. ‘I’ve never needed to explain what it is when applying for a visa, or a work permit, or a job in any country. It is truly international and has worldwide recognition, which takes a whole load of pressure off.’

Following a six-month secondment from KPMG with Standard Chartered Bank Botswana during the introduction of VAT in 2002, however, Paya realised she would like to be ‘on the other side’ – in business rather than practice. She took a job at First Funding, a division of First National Bank Botswana, then, two years later moved to the Academy for Educational Development (AED Botswana), a not-for-profit funded by the Botswana USA Partnership (BOTUSA).

CFO springboard

While that role was interesting, Paya felt she wasn’t making full use of her professional skills. She had aspirations to move back into financial services. Then a recruitment agent got in touch about the role at KBL. Tempted by the promise of opportunities for regional and international secondment, Paya took the job, despite an initial reluctance to work in manufacturing. The move proved a powerful springboard towards an eventual senior role in finance.

‘I was told that I could end up presenting budgets to the executive committee. It all sounded far out of reach, unsettling yet exciting. But a year after I joined, I was selected for the executive development programme, which gave me the confidence to take my career to the next step.’

SABMiller was then operating on five continents and wanted more representation from each of those regions, and in 2013 Paya joined the group's financial planning and analysis (FP&A) department in London, where she stayed for three years.

M&A exposure

During her time in the UK, she faced a new experience when SABMiller announced its merger with Belgian multinational AB InBev. Having played a part in the initial stages of the acquisition process, in 2016 she returned to Africa as finance director for SABMiller's operations in Malawi. After the US$100bn deal went through, the decision was made to divest the Malawi business, which gave Paya welcome exposure to the mergers and acquisitions space.

Though some colleagues opted to move on post the merger, Paya chose to remain, becoming finance director for Botswana. As part of that role she was involved in the separation of the soft drinks and beer operations in Botswana. ‘I really enjoyed the whole transition to AB InBev Group and its approach to the business, and developed a strong bond with the team,’ she says.

Nevertheless, having decided it was time to move on, she has now settled into her role at BTC and is not looking back.

'It's been stretching, but also rewarding, and there is more to come,' she says.

She is aware that it takes more than luck to get to where she is today, and appreciates the company's progressive approach to gender diversity – 40% of its employees are women.

‘In Malawi, I was one of just a handful of women in senior corporate positions, but the ratio in Botswana is much better,’ she says. ‘Even so, I make sure that I open my door to every female colleague and support their career path where I can. And I tell them that they can do even better than I did.’

Given the high bar Paya has set, these young professionals are destined for great things indeed.