Huge Group Limited announced that Izak (Zak) van de Merwe's designation has been changed from Chief Commercial Officer, Risk Committee Member, Social and Ethics Committee
Member to Chief Operating Officer, Risk Committee Member, Social and Ethics Committee Member; Andrew (Andy) Openshaw's designation has been changed from Chief Operating Officer, Risk Committee Member to Investment Committee Member. Andrew (Andy) Openshaw resigned as a director with effect from 1 June 2023. The company appointed Maria Heraty as Chief Financial Officer, Risk Committee Member and Mary-Ann Boakye as Independent Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee Member, Risk Committee Member, effective from 1 June 2023. Maria is a registered Chartered Accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. She is entrepreneurially minded, with a demonstrable track record of success in building, growing, and improving the profitability, performance, and value of companies within the Financial Services and Telecommunications sectors. She has held senior positions in a number of JSE-listed entities (most recently as the Head of Finance for Fidelity SecureDrive), has participated in start-up ventures, and has amassed a wealth of experience in leading, influencing, and driving the strategic, operational, reporting, and governance aspects of multi-dimensional financial teams in large organisations. In addition to her financial and commercial expertise, Maria also has experience and insight into the technical aspects of financial and transactional information technology systems, project and programme management, stakeholder management, governance and controls, risk management, and business transformation. Mary-Ann Boakye is a registered Chartered Accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a Bachelor of Business Science degree in Finance and Accounting, as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town (UCT). She also holds a Masters in Development Finance from the UCT Graduate School of Business, graduating summa cum laude as the top student. Mary-Ann has extensive experience in higher education, training program development and accreditation. Between 2013 and 2020, Mary-Ann served as a senior lecturer and Deputy Head of
Department at the Walter Sisulu University Department of Accounting. Since 2021, Mary-Ann has worked as a Chief Operating Officer in a mortgage finance institution.
As COO, she has contributed towards the streamlining of processes and systems, credit, risk, compliance and people management, stakeholder engagement, and fundraising activities. Mary-Ann also works as an independent consultant to SMME's.