Siyabulela Mpahlwa Chief Commercial Officer at BCX

Moving into a new role brings its own challenges, but these can be exacerbated by the impact of economic and political pressure. It requires a bold leadership approach to mitigate the effects of the current headwinds. A man rising to these challenges is Siyabulela Mpahlwa, Chief Commercial Officer, BCX, whose outlook on what lies ahead is that there is much opportunity for South African organisations to look at smarter and more innovative ways, through technology, to counter some of the major challenges. “The spearheading of BRICS also provides the potential for forging economic growth through shared influence globally,” he says.

Mphalwa’s new role, he says, is in response to BCX’s aspiration to provide its clients with competitive digital transformation solutions.

“As the custodian of our client relationships, the focus is on having a more intimate understanding of their pain points so that we are better able to provide fi t-for-purpose solutions. My mandate is to ensure our sales force is equipped to provide clients with value by putting them at the centre of every decision we make and giving them a seamless, integrated experience. “Our recently introduced client-centric strategy is intent on providing clients with the flexibility to procure suitable products and services, designed for their respective industries. My role is also to ensure that my commercial team is enabled with a keen understanding of the industries we serve, driving strategic conversations to support digital transformation aspirations.”

Mpahlwa says the organisation’s clients have been impacted by loadshedding and other pressures in various ways, depending on the nature of the industry they operate in, adding that these factors have caused serious limitations in their profitability and, consequently, on their ability to do business. In general, regardless of the industry, he’s seeing a severe impact on operations.

“We are seeing clients with less disposable cash, resulting in them scrutinising spend on transformational projects to accommodate the additional costs incurred for things such as backup power systems and making up for shortened trading or hours of operation as a result of severe loadshedding. Compared to 2022, the South Africa Reserve Bank estimates that in 2023, due to loadshedding, on average, 14% of business hours were lost in the industrial sector and roughly 11% to 12% in the commercial and agricultural sectors.”

Mpahlwa says BCX’s competitive advantage is its ability to leverage its global network of partners and depth of ICT skills to find new ways to counteract current client challenges in South Africa – from providing cloud solutions to industrial-size alternative power solutions.

While he says his new role is definitely a career highlight, he adds that he had the “incredible experience to go to Harvard this year to meet with some of the world’s most talented and influential business leaders. I have also been able to establish various successful offices in some of our other African regions.

“I try to do different things to achieve work-life balance, including family time on weekends, travelling internationally, the occasional game of squash and I have just taken up golf. “Intentional rest is also important to ensure I am ready to take on a new work week and geared to support my passion for solving our clients’ challenges. I’m always thinking about what I can do to enable my team to better serve our clients. A key driver for our strategic direction is to ultimately serve the citizens of Africa,” he concludes.

www.bcx.co.za