Nafeesa H

Strategic executive with 20+ years setting growth strategy and leading P&Ls in South African financial services. Builds and governs long-term, multi-year partnerships with blue-chip brands, and has sat on both sides of the table: owned the full P&L, strategy and budget for the Rewards and Communications function of a R2bn+ development finance institution with 60,000+ members, and led the RFP, vendor selection and commercial negotiation for its SaaS rewards platform. Turned a fuel-retail loyalty relationship into a strategic partnership across the partner's network, scaled an SME digital platform from 500 to 10,000+ users in nine months, and delivered investment campaigns of R80m to R90m per cycle.

Reports and presents at executive committee level. Holds a postgraduate BCom Honours and the GIBS Global Executive Development Programme in Board Leadership, and serves as a Director of U Care Global Advisory.

Director, Commercial and Governance at U Care Global Advisory (2026-05 – Present)

Independent Consultant | Commercial and Technical Advisory

• Provides commercial and governance oversight for a philanthropic capital advisory spanning 12 countries, a 1,800+ NGO partner network, and 500M+ in capital raised and managed.

Fractional Technical Lead at SommaRedde SA (2026-05 – Present)

Independent Consultant | Commercial and Technical Advisory

• Owns the technical roadmap and delivery for a fintech payment switch, translating business requirements into developer specifications across a multi-tenant platform.

Head of Rewards and Communications at Mobalyz - SA Taxi Development Finance (2019-11 – 2026-05)

R2bn+ DFI, 60,000+ members. Full P&L ownership of the Rewards programme and Communications function, reporting into the Head of Business: Insurance.

• Set programme strategy and roadmap and owned budget, P&L and executive performance reporting across Rewards and Communications for a R2bn+ DFI.
• Built and managed the partner pipeline from prospecting through integration and performance review; onboarded anchor partners under SLA governance frameworks.
• Closed the renewal and extension of two of the programme's largest fuel-retail loyalty partnerships, growing the relationship from a loyalty tie-up into a strategic partnership across the partner's wider network.
• Led the end-to-end RFP, vendor selection and commercial negotiation for a SaaS Rewards platform and its delivery through go-live.
• Drove measurable uplift in member activation through integrated communications spanning internal engagement, partner communications and brand advocacy.
• Commissioned in-house WhatsApp capability integrated with Meta to extend digital engagement with members.
• Introduced AI (Claude, Microsoft Copilot) into live workflows across content strategy, customer insight and product ideation.

Product and CVP Owner, Rewards at Momentum Metropolitan Holdings (2015-12 – 2019-10)

Multiply JSE-listed insurer and financial services group. Business lead for the 80+ partner Multiply Rewards portfolio, covering the full product lifecycle.

• Led the 80+ partner portfolio and its integrations at under 5% integration downtime, and managed the product roadmap and backlog.
• Led two IBM Design Thinking strategic sprints (Multiply Reimagine; Weekly Wins) and translated outcomes into the executive roadmap.
• Delivered R11m+ per annum in customer cashback payments; negotiated commercial terms with partners across retail, financial services and wellness.
• Mentored junior team members and presented roadmap and performance updates to executives.

Head: Segment Design and Development at Nedbank (2011-12 – 2015-11)

Retail Relationship Banking Big Four bank

• Led the repositioning of Private Banking into Professional Banking and the integration of the SME segment.
• Designed CVP, pricing and contact strategies; delivered investment campaigns generating R80m to R90m per cycle.
• Business Owner of SimplyBiz, Nedbank's SME beyond-banking platform, scaled from 500 to 10,000+ users in 9 months.
• Part of the core team that launched South Africa's first mobile POS device.
• Nedbank Achiever Award recipient: 2013 and 2014.

Innovations and Solutions Lead at Absa Group (2007-08 – 2011-11)

Group Enterprise Development Pan-African banking group

• One of a three-person core team that designed and scaled an SME supplier-finance solution (invoice discounting and project funding) built around blue-chip buyers, unlocking cashflow and capacity for small suppliers; no defaults during the proof of concept, only some late payments.
• Led the digitisation of the solution into a procurement marketplace where buyers find credible, verified SMEs and the bank funds them, giving SMEs access to market and funding; the platform was later taken over by an external company.
• Portfolio included Enterprise Development Centres providing business support to SMEs.
• Credit and business models evaluated and acknowledged by the USAID Financial Sector Program.
• External Absa speaker and subject matter expert on Enterprise Development models.

Financial Applications Consultant at EOH (Nedbank / Capital One) (2005 – 2007)

Project Manager, PMO at Nedbank / Capital One Alliance (2004 – 2005)

Financial Manager at Media Works (Edu-tech) (1996 – 2004)

Global Executive Development Programme in Board Leadership – GIBS Business School (2013 – 2015)

BCom Honours in Financial Management (postgraduate) – University of Johannesburg (2003 – 2003)

BCom in Financial Management – University of Johannesburg (2000 – 2000)