Christian Kallenbach collects his award from awards host, broadcaster Leanne Manas (left), and CCASA chief executive Alison Lee

Finalists: Marili Theunissen, Barclays Africa Group; Natascha Belford, Absa Bank (highly commended); Justin Ridl, Absa Bank; Mohau Nkondo, Absa Bank; Alsten Marigadu, Absa Bank

Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa's Christian Kallenbach lifted the Senior Corporate Counsel of the Year award in recognition of his efforts leading the negotiating team in Siemens' largest settlement on the continent.

Martin Muller, general counsel of Siemens sub-Saharan Africa, said Kallenbach was commended for his leadership skills in bringing together a cross-divisional team of local and international lawyers, engineers and accountants to reach a settlement after a key project soured, securing ongoing business with Siemens' most strategic customer in Africa and saving hundreds of jobs.

Following that success, Kallenbach is now heading up a multi-disciplinary team of experts to identify and mitigate contractual risks for critical and complex projects in the region, developing a company-wide policy that has led to the creation of Siemens' first ever Centre of Competence for Execution Excellence in southern and eastern Africa.

He also helped establish the contractual framework for the Siemens Nelson Mandela School of Science and Technology, which the company funded and built to improve the lives of students in Mvezo on the Eastern Cape. "His Execution Excellence team managed to gain the confidence and respect of our project and contract management teams by identifying risk and advising on practical mitigation measures in a proactive and expedited manner," Muller said.

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