From graduate trainee to CEO of Private Core Banking at FNB, Philani Potwana exemplifies purpose-driven leadership, resilience, and innovation.
Source: Supplied. Philani Potwana: CEO of Private Core Banking – Private Bank.
A trailblazer behind impactful banking solutions like cardless withdrawals and EasyPAYU, he believes the future of finance lies in problem-solving, authenticity, and collaboration.
His journey offers key lessons for young professionals navigating corporate structures while staying true to their strengths. Passionate about inclusion and Africa’s growth, he urges emerging talent to speak up, solve real client needs, and uplift others.
We asked Potwana to share his reflections on leadership, innovation, and empowering the next generation in Africa’s evolving financial sector:
As someone who rose through the ranks from a graduate trainee to CEO, what key lessons can young professionals in finance learn about navigating corporate structures and staying purpose-driven?
To all young and upcoming leaders, it is important to know that to enter the conversation, we are first measured on our qualifications. One of the biggest indicators of someone’s ability to grow and rise to leadership within an organisation is their capability to, firstly, stay open, curious and willing to learn new things and secondly their ability to work with different people and be a supportive teammate.
Keeping that in mind, at your core, you must remain authentic to yourself and be driven by a purpose. This not only gives you confidence as you have clarity on your objective even as you navigate different functional areas and learn different skills, but it also makes you trustworthy as people buy into you as a person, before what you have to offer.
People want to work with the unique magic you bring to the table.
Lastly, you should trust the process. There are many times in my career where I have had to sense check if I’m still doing the right thing, or question if this career pivot would still take me to my desired end goal.
But for as long as you are purpose driven and the choices you have made align, when you look back a few years from now, you will be surprised by how everything fell into place, exactly the way it was supposed to.
You’ve pioneered innovations like cardless cash withdrawals and led product turnarounds like EasyPAYU. What role do young professionals play in driving innovation within large financial institutions today?
Freedom of speech. I am always in awe of the younger generation’s ability to confidently express their thoughts and feelings, and I think there is beauty in that freeness, when applied correctly.
The ideation of solutions predominantly come after you have experienced a problem. Before you are a young professional, you are a consumer that has experienced some kind of difficulty in your own personal capacity – that another individual has most likely faced too.
That quick concept you come up with in a moment of agony, questioning, “why was this not done this way instead?”, demonstrates that we all can innovate a solution – big or small.
Applying that type of practical thinking, collaborating across different functions and having the confidence to question the norm and speak up in the working environment, allows for the concept to be built on and matured to appropriately address the client need. It is all about leveraging off their natural strengths.
How can banks better serve and include younger and lower-income clients, especially in Africa’s diverse and evolving financial landscape?
As a start, instead of trying to just bank clients, banks should challenge the traditional banking models and focus on addressing client needs. The world has evolved. We live in a digital-first world, so it is important to keep in mind that the young and upcoming generation learn differently, consume services differently and are even creating businesses differently.
This is why at FNB, we focus on providing help to our customers, no matter where they are on their financial and life journey.
The evolving financial landscape speaks to this changed dynamic, with regulators and non-traditional players across markets identifying this opportunity and actively solving to closing the gap.
To better serve younger and lower-income clients we need to not only solve for today’s landscape but also anticipate what their future looks like, given the rise of Africa on the global stage.
In your view, what are the critical skills and mindsets needed by the next generation of finance leaders to thrive in a digitally transforming sector?
Problem solving, I cannot stress this enough. We live in a time where the likes of Generative AI and ChatGPT are taking centre stage and making some skills redundant.
I have heard a few young people complain that they studied for four years, and they find that by the time they get the opportunity to work, they barely use the skills they learned at school.
The biggest value is the ability to problem solve – the ability to look at a new problem and apply the relevant frameworks, synthesise it to the point to where you now have clarity on what needs to be solved and be able to enter a completely new area and still find solutions – that will be the key skill to differentiate the next generation of finance leaders .
To supplement that, having good presentation skills will assist you to clearly articulate your vision and it is key – especially when being a leader – to have softer skills like emotional intelligence and the ability to be resilient. This will enable you to better manage and lead diverse teams and demonstrate strength in the ability to always bounce back, even after experiencing failure.
Having led operations across multiple African countries, what opportunities do you see for young entrepreneurs and professionals to contribute to Africa’s financial sector growth?
So many – this is a tough one because of how many there are. But if I were to pick one, I would say recognise that Africa is on the rise, and we have leapfrogged many other continents in certain areas because we have unique problems that our fellow youth have solved in the creative and informal economy, that have even become very well-funded startups.
What does this mean for contributing to growing the financial sector in Africa?
Historically there was a narrative that cash is king in Africa, but there are proper economies and flow of funds happening across all the markets I have been in.
If the banks and traditional financial services have not been able to disintermediate cash or at least get a share of the funds, what has not been done? Do, we understand the reasons for that well enough? Is there a unique enough problem we need to solve for?
If enough of us are asking and answering this question in our respective spaces and collaborating across the continent – we may end up with Africa having one of the most mature financial systems of the future.
Youth Month is about empowerment and progress. What advice would you give to aspiring young leaders in Africa’s banking and financial services sector?
Looking at my own journey, I think it is quite evident that empowerment of the youth is also in the hands of the leaders that come before us. When you rise, lift another – that is the only way to keep a consistent flow of new leaders being developed and included in the financial sector.
I would not be where I am today if it were not for another leader gracing me the opportunity to put my hand up, learn from them and ideate with confidence, knowing that I had their backing and support.
So to our aspiring young leaders, I would suggest that you open yourself up to mentorship, where you are learning from someone that resembles where you see yourself in future and soak in that opportunity to really learn more about the field you are in, the role you would need to play, identify the gaps you may have in yourself and career development journey, and start drafting clear goals and action plans of how you would close them, to attain your
end vision.
When you do become a leader, teach and don’t gate keep. Sponsor another and share your journey and experiences to inspire and encourage the next leader – be a constant reminder that their dreams are attainable and valid.
