About the Position

Group Chief Financial Officer

Dubai, UAE

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 a 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.

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Group Chief Financial Officer

Job description