Johnson Idesoh, group CITO at Absa, has been crowned CIO of the Year at the 2025 CIO Awards.
Group CITO at Absa Johnson Idesoh has been named CIO of the Year at the 2025 CIO Awards. He received his award from Timothy Kroon, chief operating officer at Entelect.
The CIO of the Year is an IT leader who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation, contributing to the success of their organisation over a number of years. The awards were announced on 13 November at a black-tie event which took place at the Polo Room, Inanda Club.
Johnson also took home the Smart Data Award, presented by ClO South Africa, as well as the Digital Innovation Award, handed over by Dion Govender, the divisional chief executive at iOCO Technology Group.
Johnson has led Absa to become the first major South African bank to achieve ISO 27001:2022 certification, elevating its cybersecurity to global standards. Under his leadership. Absa’s cloud-first approach has unlocked agility and innovation, while early AI adoption is reshaping how customers experience financial services.
Kim Sim, CIO at Mr Price Group, was also a big winner. She walked away with the High-Performance Team Award, presented by CIO South Africa, and the Strategy & Leadership Award, handed over by Siya Mnyanda, the strategic account lead at Workday. Kim excels at aligning technology with business goals, delivering complex projects like cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology, and embedding AI and data-driven solutions.
Irwhan Rakiep, CIO at Metropolitan Life, was named Young CIO of the Year, receiving his award from Arun Babu, the managing partner for consulting services at Deloitte Africa.
Irwhan is a dynamic and strategic technology leader, recognised for aligning IT innovation to core business goals and driving measurable impact. He has helped deliver more than R120 million in cost savings by digitising Metropolitan Life’s client onboarding journey; enabled scalable growth by integrating new partnerships, and led the successful decommissioning of legacy systems.
Mathabo Nakene-Mginqi, the vice-principal: ICT and CIO at Unisa, was crowned Public Sector CIO of the Year. Her award was handed over by Nkuli Mbundu, client executive at Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa.
Mathabo has led the transformation of Unisa’s ICT function, delivering system stability and driving technological advancement across the university. As CIO and ICT vice-principal, she has fostered a team culture of transparency and accountability, where honest feedback is encouraged. Mathabo’s work has led to savings of R26 million and investments in cutting-edge technologies, including blockchain and Drone as a Service (DaaS), continuing to position Unisa as a leader in modernising public sector higher education.
The winning code
Mary Mahuma, CIO: Southern Africa at Philip Morris International, won the IT Project of the Year Award, handed over by Kholiwe Makhohliso from Welanga Investments. Mary plays a vital role in driving Philip Morris Southern Africa’s mission to expand smoke-free alternatives. She leads the region’s technology and digital transformation efforts, ensuring operations run with agility and impact. Her omni-channel solutions have improved both consumer and business experiences, earning recognition for their seamless delivery.
Hans Zachar, group CTIO at Nutun, took home the Cybersecurity Award, handed over by Michele Duncan, the head of legal, governance & compliance at MakwaIT. Hans has been instrumental in securing global blue-chip clients for Nutun and has navigated complex compliance audits to establish South Africa as a credible player in one of the world’s toughest markets. He fosters high-performing and diverse teams, embedding innovation through AI and analytics.
The full list of 2025 CIO Awards winners:
- CIO of the Year – Johnson Idesoh, group CITO, Absa
- Young CIO of the Year – Irwhan Rakiep, CIO, Metropolitan Life
- Public Sector CIO of the Year – Mathabo Nakene-Mginqi, vice principal: ICT and CIO, Unisa
- High-Performance Team Award – Kim Sim, CIO, Mr Price Group
- Strategy & Leadership Award – Kim Sim, CIO, Mr Price Group
- IT Project of the Year – Mary Mahuma, CIO: Southern Africa, Philip Morris International
- Cybersecurity Award – Hans Zachar, group CTIO, Nutun
- Smart Data Award – Johnson Idesoh, group CITO, Absa
- Digital Innovation Award – Johnson Idesoh, group CITO, Absa
The judges for the 2025 CIO Awards were:
- Faith Burn, CTOO, Land Bank
- Jörg Fischer, group CIO, Standard Bank
- Kholiwe Makhohliso, managing director, Welanga Invest
- Lauren Berrington, chief audit officer, Bidvest
- Lyndi Retief, senior enterprise account manager, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Matimba Mbungela, CHRO, Vodacom
- Omeshnee Naidoo, director: CIO programme leader for Africa, Deloitte
- Storme McDonald, COO, RMB
- Thuto Masasa, head of advisory, BDO
- Valda Gossman, non-executive director, Demoplex
- Warren Hero, architecture design segment product lead, SARS
- Zuko Mdwaba, investor, Jem
The Annual CIO Awards were proudly supported by Award sponsors Cassava Technologies, Deloitte, Entelect, iOCO Technology Group, Huawei, MakwaIT, Welanga Investments, and Workday.
The event’s table sponsors included: Equinix, HCL Tech, Hyland, and NeoSoft.
