Renowned South African accountant Priscillah Mabelane has been appointed as the new Managing Director of BP Southern Africa, one of the world’s leading international oil and gas companies.
She’ll be the first black woman, and there’s a lot of people seem excited about the appointment. She will take the helm on September 1, exactly six years after joining the organization.
In his speech, BP Southern Africa Chairman, Thandi Orleyn thanked outgoing CEO Daniel Odogwu, who served three and a half years at the helm after his appointment in 2014, and also welcomed the new CEO.
Mabelane’s predecessor, Odogwu, joined BP in 1989. He has held various roles in the UK, Belgium, Germany, South Africa and the Netherlands.
Priscillah Mabelane’s appointment follows two recent senior appointments to the BP Southern Africa leadership team: Kelebogile Tseladimitlwa as Head of Human Resources for Southern Africa and Prinisha Khoosal as Commercial Integration Manager for Southern Africa in late 2016.
5 things you need to know about Priscillah Mabelane
Early life
Like all truly inspirational stories, PriscillahMabelane has come a long way since she was younger. In a lecture she gave on preparing the C-Suite, she revealed that she was just a simple girl who came from a small town in Limpopo and was distinguished by her passion, diligence and determination.
When she was 12, Priscillah was her father’s typist in his accounting firm. There she said she learned diligence, a lesson she carried out in all her endeavors.
growth
She joined Ernst and Young early in her career, and was the first black person to join her office in Pietermaritzburg. Times were definitely tougher and it was a tough time being a black woman in corporate South Africa. However, two partners in the firm saw her potential and took a chance and invested in her and her career growth.
Work experience before BP
She has held a number of senior positions at other large companies including CFO of Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA), director of taxation at Ernst & Young and at Eskom; She has held various roles in finance, tax and general administration. All of this should leave no doubt that she has had a brilliant professional life that would undoubtedly have prepared her for this new role.
Career history at BP
Priscillah Mabelane has had a truly phenomenal journey at BP, which is now six years old. She joined BP PLC in 2011 as Chief Financial Officer.
Since then she has also achieved milestones such as becoming Interim CEO/CFO BP Southern Africa in 2014 before resuming her role as Chief Financial Officer BP Southern Africa before being appointed Chief Executive Officer BP Southern Africa in 2017.
New milestone
Priscillah Mabelane is the first woman in the South African oil industry’s history as head of a multinational company is a significant milestone both in her life and in the industry as a whole.
Brief facts about Priscillah
- Mabelane previously worked at Airports Company South Africa and Vodacom Group Limited before joining BP.
- Her childhood dream was to become a chartered account. Today she is living her dream and surpassing it.
- Her father was a well-known business leader.
- She grew up in Mabocha, a small town outside of Burgersfort in Limpopo.
- Mabelane graduated from what was then the University of the North, now called the University of Limpopo. She has a degree in Accounting with honors from the prestigious university. She also has an honors degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
- During her childhood she developed a special fondness for mathematics and accounting. Her success in the subjects led to her determination to excel in the business world.
- The new CEO of BP Southern Africa is a mother to two lovely girls.
- She is a devout Christian and supports so many orphanages. Priscillah also enjoys spending time with her family, running and reading.