Refilwe Belebesi

Dear Sir/Madam

My name is Refilwe Belebesi. I have 20 years’ experience spanning across business banking, private banking, development financing, private equity, SME transaction advisory, investment packaging and capital raising.

I am experienced in leading investments through the entire investment cycle (origination, due diligence, execution, participating in investment committees, post-transaction portfolio management and value creation).

My professional goal is to complete a journey I had started by obtaining my professional qualification as a Chartered Accountant. Whilst pursuing this goal, I wish to build the requisite competency to demonstrate the ability to render, manage and oversee financial services at the highest level. Furthermore, I wish to improve my skills, knowledge, expertise and professional standards. 

I am truly a valuable addition to a high-performance organization with aligned values. 

Below I listed some of my professional accomplishments

• Co-establishing an award-winning corporate fund for South Africa’s largest food manufacturer 
• Moved a previously underperforming business unit to top performing unit
• Managed a R300 million SME Debt Fund and fully disbursed over a four-year period 
• Successfully led a highly-motivated investment team of 10 professionals to achieve targets 
• Two members of an investment team I coached were awarded top-performers by CEO 
• Promoted by CEO to serve as the Executive Head of the Investment unit
• Selected, participated and graduated in the inaugural Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) led fund manager development programme
• Awarded a scholarship for the development of a Financial Innovations for Emerging Economies.

Hope this letter and CV finds your favourable consideration.

EXPERTISE 

• 20 years’ experience in banking, SME development financing and private equity (5 years in private equity, 9 years in development finance institution and 5 years in banking institutions0.
• Start-up stage, Early-stage and Growth-stage SME financing and development.
• Acquisition of high-value SME clients and portfolio growth.
• Corporate governance, strategy development, business model development and operationalization.
• Management of diverse stakeholder interest groups.
• Risk management (Enterprise-Wide Risk and Credit Risk), credit policy development, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• Private equity fund establishment and management, SME banking, private banking, development financing and impact investing.
• Enterprise and supplier development strategies, SME transaction structuring and advisory, packaging and capital raising.

2022 CFA Level II Candidate (Current studies)

2016 Post-Graduate Diploma in Development Finance, University of Stellenbosch Business School

2002 BCom Accounting Science, University of the Witwatersrand

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COURSES

2014 Senior Management in Development Programme, University of Stellenbosch Business School

2007 Programme in Management Development, GIBS, University of Pretoria

TECHNICAL SKILLS TRAINING COURSES

2020 Developing a Professional Dashboards, Goal Fix Financial Modellers

2020 Project Financial Modelling Masterclass, Goal Fix Financial Modellers

2021 Property Development and Investment - University of Cape Town

MEMBERSHIPS

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society South Africa