Absa CEO Kenny Fihla has assumed the role of chair of the Banking Association South Africa (Basa), replacing his FirstRand counterpart, Mary Vilakazi.Fihla, who has a track record of building Pan-African businesses, took over the role on Friday.“Kenny’s appointment reflects the collective responsibility of the banking sector to work collaboratively in support of a stable, resilient and inclusive financial system. From his perspective, the role provides an opportunity to advance constructive engagement in the industry,” Absa said.“For Absa Group, this underscores our ongoing commitment to industry leadership and participation in matters that shape the future of banking in the country.”The Banking Association’s chair is typically elected through an internal voting process by its board of directors.Fihla previously deputised for Vilakazi in a high-powered board comprising some of the industry’s top minds.The Basa chair has largely centred on South Africa’s largest banks’ executives. According to Moody’s, South Africa’s six largest banks hold 93% of the industry’s multitrillion rand assets, maintaining their hegemony despite a flurry of new entrants over the past decade.(Dorothy Kgosi) Standard Bank leads the pack, holding 25% of the sector’s assets, followed by FirstRand at 22%, Absa at 20% and Nedbank at 16% — together accounting for 83% of the industry’s assets valued at more than R7-trillion.Investec holds 7% of the assets while Capitec holds 3%.The new Basa role comes shortly after Fihla was appointed to the board of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), underscoring the high esteem in which he is held in the business community. BLSA is chaired by Discovery founder and mainstay CEO Adrian Gore.Fihla has hit the ground running since taking over the Absa Group CEO role nearly a year ago, ushering in a new strategy anchored on Pan-African expansion, with the group’s corporate and investment banking proposition set to play a key role in not “leaving money on the table”.The new energy he has infused in Absa has been acknowledged by the group’s chair, René van Wyk, before the company’s AGM in June.“The appointment of Kenny Fihla as group CEO in June 2025 brought a level of cohesion and focus that has delivered a refreshed strategy that is simple and reflects the shifts that are necessary to win with customers, execute with greater efficiency, and build long-term relevance,” Van Wyk said in his letter to shareholders.“True customer centricity is the organising principle through which we will secure the group’s long-term competitiveness.”