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Absa, South Africa’s third-largest bank, is letting go of senior executives it deems not fit for purpose under the leadership of Kenny Fihla, who has set the group on a higher growth path trajectory.To achieve his lofty aims of building a dominant Pan-African player, Fihla has swelled the top ranks of the lender with new talent, most of which comes from his erstwhile employer, Standard Bank.Fihla on Tuesday said the bank is not done with its hiring spree, particularly in its corporate and investment banking (CIB) franchise, with some executives in the departure lounge to make way for new hires.“Giles [Douglas] will be taking over investment banking and starting in July, bringing an unbelievable investment banking expertise from Rothschild. The head of transactional banking sales, which is the business that is currently underperforming, will also start in July to straighten the sales capacity and the rebuild of that team,” Fihla said.(Dorothy Kgosi) “We also have two sector heads coming to reinforce our clients’ coverage team. All of these investments [in human capital] are aimed at strengthening the client-facing side of the business and in particular our ability to originate deals and make sure they are closed. “We are fairly confident that as we bring people on board, we are also in some instances exiting people whom we think are not appropriate. Naturally, we tend to focus more on the new investments that we are making as opposed to some of the changes and exits we have to undertake to create space for the new entrants.”Fihla, who took over the role of group CEO a year ago, has wasted little time in injecting fresh energy and a pivot in culture at a bank long accused of leaving a lot of money on the table for its rivals to feast on.One of the new executives who is starting his Absa journey this month is respected investment banker Sola Adegbesan, who has crossed the floor from Standard Bank.Adegbesan has been appointed managing executive responsible for CIB Africa Regions, reporting to Zaid Moola, CEO of Absa’s CIB business.Adegbesan and Moola are no strangers, having worked together at Standard Bank’s global markets team, an important cog in the group’s dominant CIB business.Musa Motloung also joined Absa as group strategic risk officer, ditching his role as chief risk officer in Standard Bank’s CIB business.Avikaar Ramphal also joined Absa as its head of strategic risk from Standard Bank, where he had been portfolio head, strategy enablement, in the CIB business.Clive Potter, erstwhile head of client coverage in South Africa for Standard Bank CIB, has also joined Absa as the managing executive for client coverage in its CIB business. Absa has also prised away the head of legal at Standard Bank’s CIB franchise, Francisco Khoza, as its deputy general group counsel.Absa has not only raided Standard Bank for talent, though. Saloshni Pillay and Douglas have crossed the floor from Deutsche Bank and Rothschild and Co, respectively.Absa has set a target of doubling the revenue of the CIB business, with the rest of the Africa portfolio set to do the heavy lifting. Absa’s CIB revenue for the 2025 financial year came in at R37bn, implying a growth target of R74bn. The unit reported a profit of R13bn in the period.Last week Absa also appointed former Standard Bank senior staffer Leon Barnard to lead its Pan-African business banking unit. Barnard left Standard Bank two years ago.To get the group’s personal and private banking performing optimally, Fihla appointed M-Pesa boss Sitoyo Lopokoiyit to head the business. The Kenyan-born executive assumed the role in April.
