CFO IMDH Group

Alexandra Watkins-Baker is a woman in mining with a drive for excellence.

She is currently the CFO of the IMDH Group, managing entities operating in South Africa and Namibia in the offshore marine diamond-mining and exploration industry.

In March 2020, at the age of 29, as a young female she was promoted to CFO of a multinational, billion-rand group: a position of responsibility and accountability during the COVID-19 pandemic. She successfully managed the IMDH Group’s finances, cashflows and strategic plans to successfully survive the COVID-19 crisis, achieving operational results that carried the IMDH Group through a year where it generated no income for three months but continued to mine and incur costs throughout the pandemic whilst placing their 400 employees first, which resulted in avoiding any retrenchments.

In 2022 she was a key player as CFO in the multi-million-rand disposal of the IMDH group and remains the CFO of the offshore division under the new shareholding.

Today, she is the only female head of department and female executive within the group. Alexandra is leading by example as a young woman in a male-dominated industry, encouraging other women that with perseverance and determination, anything is possible.

Alexandra has a strong sense of responsibility and commitment for doing things right, a personality that is always positive, and a leadership style of authenticity, fearlessness and honesty.

She strives to continuously learn and develop not only herself but those around her in all divisions and takes the time to engage with the teams on the ground to better understand their needs, training and development required.

She believes in an open-door policy as a CFO and that being a woman in leadership, when needed, brings a more caring and empathetic approach. This, she believes, is beneficial, especially in times of transformation and in a fast-paced, ever-evolving and changing environment such as mining.