Absa appoints new chief executive officer

Absa has appointed former Reserve Bank deputy governor Daniel Mminele as its new group chief executive.

The bank said that Mminele will take over the role from 15 January 2020, acting as a permanent replacement to longtime CEO Maria Ramos who retired in February 2019.

Mminele has substantial banking experience, having most recently completed his second 5-year term as deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), where his responsibilities included Financial Markets, International Economic Relations and Policy, and Human Capital and Operations, the group said.

Among others, he was a member of the Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee. Prior to joining the SARB in September 1999, he worked for African Merchant Bank and Commerzbank in South Africa, and WestLB in the UK and Germany for 12 years, commencing in 1987.

He previously earned a German banking qualification and obtained various associate certificates from the Institute of Bankers in the UK.

Absa said that interim CEO, René van Wyk, will step down on 14 January 2020, but will remain with the group as an executive director, for handover purposes until 31 January 2020.

He will rejoin Absa Group and Absa Bank’s boards as a non-executive director, following a six-month cooling off period.

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