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I'm Stephen Makau, a finance executive based in Nairobi with over 13 years of experience spanning corporate finance, internal audit, risk, and Big-4 assurance. I combine strategic financial leadership with a sharp controls mindset to drive fundraising, turnaround, capital allocation, and governance. I have closed multi-million-dollar financings and built finance functions that scale, serving as a trusted advisor to CEOs, boards, and investors. I hold a CPA(K) and CIA and an Executive MBA from Strathmore Business School. I partner with executive teams to improve cash flow, strengthen controls, and deliver transparent investor reporting while shaping strategic direction.…I'm Stephen Makau, a finance executive based in Nairobi with over 13 years of experience spanning corporate finance, internal audit, risk, and Big-4 assurance. I combine strategic financial leadership with a sharp controls mindset to drive fundraising, turnaround, capital allocation, and governance. I have closed multi-million-dollar financings and built finance functions that scale, serving as a trusted advisor to CEOs, boards, and investors. I hold a CPA(K) and CIA and an Executive MBA from Strathmore Business School. I partner with executive teams to improve cash flow, strengthen controls, and deliver transparent investor reporting while shaping strategic direction.

Stephen Makau

Project Manager, Data Analyst, Product Designer, +7

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I'm Stephen Makau, a finance executive based in Nairobi with over 13 years of experience spanning corporate finance, internal audit, risk, and Big-4 assurance. I combine strategic financial leadership with a sharp controls mindset to drive fundraising, turnaround, capital allocation, and governance. I have closed multi-million-dollar financings and built finance functions that scale, serving as a trusted advisor to CEOs, boards, and investors. I hold a CPA(K) and CIA and an Executive MBA from Strathmore Business School. I partner with executive teams to improve cash flow, strengthen controls, and deliver transparent investor reporting while shaping strategic direction.…I'm Stephen Makau, a finance executive based in Nairobi with over 13 years of experience spanning corporate finance, internal audit, risk, and Big-4 assurance. I combine strategic financial leadership with a sharp controls mindset to drive fundraising, turnaround, capital allocation, and governance. I have closed multi-million-dollar financings and built finance functions that scale, serving as a trusted advisor to CEOs, boards, and investors. I hold a CPA(K) and CIA and an Executive MBA from Strathmore Business School. I partner with executive teams to improve cash flow, strengthen controls, and deliver transparent investor reporting while shaping strategic direction.

Available to hire

I’m Stephen Makau, a finance executive based in Nairobi with over 13 years of experience spanning corporate finance, internal audit, risk, and Big-4 assurance. I combine strategic financial leadership with a sharp controls mindset to drive fundraising, turnaround, capital allocation, and governance. I have closed multi-million-dollar financings and built finance functions that scale, serving as a trusted advisor to CEOs, boards, and investors.

I hold a CPA(K) and CIA and an Executive MBA from Strathmore Business School. I partner with executive teams to improve cash flow, strengthen controls, and deliver transparent investor reporting while shaping strategic direction.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Language

English

Fluent

Work Experience

Chief Finance Officer at Mr. Green Africa Trading Limited

October 1, 2024 - October 1, 2025

Led the finance function and closed a USD 6M bridge financing from new and existing shareholders within the first three months. Discovered a decade-long margin misstatement (reported 20% vs. actual 5%), triggering a strategic turnaround. Corrected flawed business-model logic overstating cash runway by more than 12 months, restoring investor forecast credibility. Re-engineered reconciliations and general-ledger postings to deliver month-end close by the 7th working day. Owned FP&A, treasury and cash-flow, working capital and Opex oversight, statutory and management reporting, regulatory compliance, and enterprise risk and governance. Served as strategic advisor to the CEO and executive team; led investor management, reporting and due diligence.

Head of Internal Audit, Risk & Compliance at Mr. Green Africa Trading Limited

May 1, 2022 - October 1, 2024

Developed and operationalized a KES 2 billion Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework for the business. Identified and rectified a flawed commission-based sourcing model responsible for KES 10M in commission losses over six months. Partnered with the CFO to improve the cash conversion cycle, driving a 30% increase in revenue collections. Led remediation of IT application-control gaps that had cost the business KES 1M over three months; closed double-purchasing loopholes spanning systems and people. Advised on a USD 13M scale-up project, establishing new processes and controls; optimized working capital by aligning sourcing volumes with plant production capacity.

Audit Manager — Internal Audit at Liberty Kenya Holdings Plc

April 1, 2018 - April 1, 2022

Identified KES 35M in revenue leakage at Heritage Insurance Kenya from unmonitored exchange-rate fluctuations. Flagged TZS 256M of unsupported facultative premium revenue and UGX 183M of unsupported intangible assets across the Tanzania and Uganda subsidiaries. Surfaced operational irregularities at Charter Malawi that led to forensic investigation, revealing fraud and technical insolvency; enabled the Group to take remedial action and protect shareholder value. Identified missing receipt numbers in the premium-receipting tool (Heritage Tanzania), prompting a management forensic investigation; flagged withholding-tax non-compliance and built an Excel-based compliance model for Heritage Kenya.

Audit Senior at KPMG Kenya

September 1, 2013 - March 1, 2018

Promoted to Senior Auditor; led the 2016 and 2017 KCB Group Plc audits, including detailed reviews, group reporting coordination and recommendations to the Board Audit Committee under the new group structure. Accredited L&D trainer; facilitated technical training across the audit department, notably the IFRS 9 implementation project.