About

Cyril Madiba CA(SA) is a chartered accountant with 11 years post qualification experience, which has largely been in the banking and financial services industry across auditing, investment banking, finance management, change and assed based financing. Secondments to Boston (USA) and Chennai (India) have added an international flair to his experience. Cyril is currently the head of Commercial Asset Finance in Absa Group's Corporate and Investment Banking division. Cyril also holds a Harvard Business School certificate on Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies and is a certified life coach through Achology's Academy of Modern Applied Psychology.

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Cyril's passion for youth development is evident in the initiatives he is involved with in addition to his role at Absa Group. He is the former chairperson of the Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust (CRET) Advisory Board, which provides advisory proposals on strategic and operational objectives to ensure the organization has an even bigger impact in society. CRET, a partner entity of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, assists students from disadvantaged backgrounds with funding for tertiary studies and provides holistic support. One of his achievements in his role as Chair, was being directly responsible for a significant monetary donation towards CRET, following a moving speech for holistic student support programmes at one of the Foundation's events. Cyril has shared a number of platforms with the Foundation founder and President of South Africa, the honourable Cyril Ramaphosa.

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Cyril is a founding member of the fund set up by CRET Alumni, comprising of those who were supported by CRET in the past, as a way of giving back. The CRET Alumni Fund has already supported two students with tertiary education funding and produced its first graduates. Its third student is current doing ICT studies at the University of Johannesburg. Cyril is part of CRET's mentorship programme where he provides guidance and advice to assist students. Through the Endunamoo School of Accounting and his personal capacity, he mentored aspiring chartered accountants on their journey to qualification.

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Cyril is the founder of The Growth Switch, an organisation which assists students and young professionals with academic, career and personal development growth insights. This is done through online videos. The initiative was born from the realization that there are critical soft skills that the education system doesn’t teach, yet such skills are important if one is to launch and sustain a successful career.

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He is a published author, under the pen name Abidam Liryc, having released two books as part of the "I'm Not Supposed To Be Here" series on Amazon.com which is based on his remarkable life story. In 2021, Cyril published his third book called "Activating Your Growth Switch: A Practical Guide and Lessons for an Effective Life Journey" which is a self-help book for the youth seeking to live a fulfilled life.

All the books are available on The Native Publishing Company's website, an organisation he cofounded with his wife.

He also speaks at career days and webinars to provide guidance to others.

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Cyril is a former Independent Non-Executive Director on the Youth Managers Foundation NPC (YMF) Board. YMF is a non-profit youth development organization founded in 2008 with a vision and objective of developing the leadership skills of young people in order for them to become agents of positive changes in their areas of influence.

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He serves on the Board of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), as appointed by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. The mission is to transform NSFAS into an efficient and effective provider of financial aid to students from poor and working-class families in a sustainable manner that promotes access to, and success in, higher and further education and training, in pursuit of South Africa’s national and human resource development goals.

In addition, he serves on the board of the South Africa Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), as appointed by the SAICA members at the annual general meeting, and is a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Board sub-committee at the Adopt-A-School Foundation.

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Cyril is the founder of the Cyril Madiba Empowerment Foundation (CMEF) non-profit organisation which has a vision of contributing to a changed society, one that is rid of the challenges of inequality and poverty.

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Cyril's contribution to his professional career as well as the development of others saw him being recognised as one of the finalists in the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) annual Top 35 under 35 competition in 2020. This competition celebrates young CAs (SA) who are making a valuable contribution in their communities, as well as to the economy.

In 2021, Mail & Guardian recognised Cyril in its annual Top 200 Young South Africans list. Mail & Guardian's 200 Young South Africans list identifies and awards young incredible innovators and trailblazers in South Africa.

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Life has brought about its fair share of struggles for Cyril. Born into an environment where people struggled to make ends meet, he knew that he needed to do something special to help change the situation. A challenging childhood had him attending four primary schools across the KwaMachi and Eshowe rural villages, KwaMashu township and Verulam before he attended high school in the township.

Upon completing matric and obtaining a full scholarship from the Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust (CRET), he went on study for undergraduate and honours degrees in Accounting at the University of KwaZulu Natal. The support from CRET ensured that he could further his tertiary studies and achieve the dream of becoming a chartered accountant, all of which is a first for his family. More details on Cyril's life can be found in the "I'm Not Supposed To Be Here" books he's authored.

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Cyril's mission is to positively impact society such that the lives of others are improved. He plans to fulfill this through current and future personal development initiatives to empower those who need it the most.