Rebecca Manford, the chief finance officer (CFO) for leading tobacco firm Cavendish Lloyd Zimbabwe says she is not surprised that, as a woman, she has managed to climb up to the top leadership post at the tender age of 33 years, and now occupies an influential executive position in an area dominated by the men folk elsewhere.

Research also shows that certain top executive positions in companies are dominated by men, but Miss Manford seems to have turned the tables, putting ladies in the limelight.

She has managed to scale lofty heights under adverse circumstances to become a recognised and respected female leader in an environment mostly dominated by men.

In an interview with The Zimmagazine Finance and Business, she said, “My mother has been very instrumental in who I am today and was raised as if I was in a military boot camp.

“My parents raised me to know that education is very important and that I must work hard to establish myself and not just wait for someone else to do it for me, basically they raised me like a man.”

She was born and raised in Harare and attended Blakiston Primary School for her junior schooling and Arundel High School for her secondary education.

The fact she was selected to serve as a school prefect and a school head girl during the early stages of her life demonstrated the leadership traits already in her character.

 “In high school, I held various leadership roles, including being a prefect. I was a  good public speaker from school to high school up until now, as it became part of my life’s diet,” she said.

Miss Manford also said apart from being a leader at the tender age, she had represented Zimbabwe in the Children’s World Parliament and also later became the junior deputy mayor of Harare.

The way she was groomed and prepared for life at school, to have high self esteem as a young woman, helped her to become the person she is today  while the death of her father when she was only 17 made her stronger.

Her father’s death, she said, was one of the most tragic events that also gave her the drive to aim for higher destiny as she had to mature quickly to assume key responsibilities.

This experience made her life an interesting journey although it was not devoid of ups and downs in fact.

Miss Manford started her professional journey when she was only 19 years old and fresh from high school when she enrolled with a local accounting firm for her articles in accounting.

After high school she found a job as a trainee accountant, but continued with her studies which saw  her attain a Bachelor in Accounting Science Degree with the University of South Africa (UNISA).

Later, she also qualified as a chartered accountant through the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and also obtained an MBA with the University of South Wales.

 “I started right at the bottom of the ‘food chain’ from being a clerk and a gradual growth from that to being a senior clerk and supervisor, manager and now CFO, which is my current position at Cavendish Lloyd Zimbabwe,” she noted.

She has worked for various organisations over the years, including leading conglomerates like CFI Holdings and other large international companies such as Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe.

During that period, she said she learned that nothing comes easy and that hard work and perseverance is a mantras one should live by in order to reach any level of success.

She started working for Cavendish Lloyd Zimbabwe as a finance and operations manager in January 2018 until December 2020 when she got promoted to become the firm’s CFO in January 2021. 

Her career has also seen her serve as a non-executive director at SheDeliversZim, a delivery service firm she co-owns from July 2021 to date.

She has been on the board of directors of Total Greatness International, a youth development centered not for profit organization, from January 2022 to date.

Over the years, Miss Manford has acquired experience in auditing, finance, human capital management, logistics, procurement and sales, public relations, administration.

This, she said, made her an all-rounder, qualities that have been highly valuable in her current position.

The exposure saw her relate with various people from different walks of life over the years and taught her so many life lessons that have been useful for her to manoeuvre and survive in this environment. She feels her journey and experience thus far prepared her for the current position. The portfolio covers finance, business strategy, operations and treasury.

In addition, she said she has been blessed to be mentored by great people and it has kept her hopeful and excited about pursuing her future.

The Cavendish CFO commended the support she has been receiving from her boss, the firm’s chief executive, who has mentored her for many years, which she said was highly invaluable.

“I am very humbled to be recognized for my work and achievements and to be part of the women’s representation.

“I am very active in empowering women using my different platforms to showcase various other women around us doing great things since we are in a new era and the women have arisen to also claim our place in society,” she said.

As a leader, she emphasized that the hardest part was having to lead by example to a huge number of people, and not by using command authority.

Miss Manford said the reason for her leadership style was to avoid making people think it is easy to provide leadership to many people by simply using executive “power”.

To her, leaders demonstrate responsibility associated with such a position.

Ms Manford said she has had to work long hours due to the demands of her position, which entails a lot of pressure, but that she was determined to reach her goals. She also said managing and dealing with so many different types of people was not easy, but stressed she was grateful that each situation or incident widened her perspective and appreciation of the social issues around her work.

“I am expecting to be chief executive officer at 40 years and to continue empowering young people, mostly ladies, to be the best versions of themselves.”

She also said she is very passionate about giving back and ushering people into the opportunities they need using various connections and networks she made over these years in the industry.

“What you need to always do is no matter how rock-bottom you ever find yourself, you must always find the strength to pick yourself up and try again,” she said.