Jo Mitchell-Marais

Prior to joining Kroll, Jo served as Africa Turnaround and Restructuring Leader at a leading competitor, where she built and led a team of professionals delivering solutions across the continent. Before that, she was a corporate restructuring specialist at Riparian Advisory, where she pioneered the restructuring division of a hedge fund to minimize losses from watchlists and non-performing loans. Earlier in her career, Jo held senior restructuring roles at Absa Bank, including Head of Business Support and Vice President in the Credit Restructuring and Advisory Group, where she led teams delivering risk-adjusted solutions across portfolios in commercial, agriculture, wealth and property finance. She also founded Evergreen Business Recovery, advised distressed companies and subcontracted to Big Four firms, and held senior roles at TMP Plc in Cape Town and London.

Her notable clients include major South African corporates and state-owned enterprises, where she has led complex restructuring engagements that preserved value and safeguarded jobs. She has also advised lenders and investors on distressed exposures and developed innovative solutions to stabilize businesses and restore performance.

Jo serves as the first female Chairperson of the South African Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners Association (SARIPA), where she has been a board member since 2020 and founded the Lenders’ Forum. She is also a founding member of INSOL International’s Africa Advisory Council, serving on its Technical Research Committee and course committees, and co-chairs the INSOL and World Bank Africa Round Table. In 2025 she was admitted as a member of the International Insolvency Institute.

Jo holds a Bachelor of Business Science in finance with honors and a Postgraduate Diploma in accounting from the University of Cape Town. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, holds a Certificate of Proficiency in insolvency from Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) in London and graduated with honors from INSOL International’s Global Insolvency Practice Course. She also completed the SARIPA Program in Insolvency Law and Practice with distinction.