Absa | Absa Board of Directors

Absa Bank Limited (Absa) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Absa Group. We offer a range of retail, business, corporate and investment banking, as well as wealth management, products and services primarily in South Africa and Africa.

The Absa Bank Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI), which is in accordance with the Companies Act 2008, regulates the rights, duties and responsibilities of shareholders, directors and others within the Bank.

Absa Bank MOI and Registration Certificates

Good corporate governance creates and sustains shareholder value, ensures that our behaviour is ethical and promotes positive outcomes for all our stakeholders. This is why we are committed to the highest standards of corporate governance. Our board is the focal point and custodian of Absa Group’s governance principles as set out in our Board Charter and contained in various policies and standards.

Group Chief Executive Officer

Kenny Fihla

Kenny Fihla

Group Chief Executive Officer

Kenny was appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer and executive director of Absa Group and Absa Bank, effective 17 June 2025.

Kenny is a recognised leader with substantial Pan-African banking experience and a proven track record.

He has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership roles in the banking sector. He joined Standard Bank Group in 2006 as head of Investor Services, Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB). In 2008, he was appointed head of Transactional Products and Services, SA, for Standard Bank CIB, whereafter he was appointed deputy chief executive of CIB in November 2016 and chief executive officer of CIB in May 2017, a role he held until August 2024. He was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank Group and Chief Executive Officer Standard Bank South Africa effective 1 September 2024. As Deputy Chief Executive, he was the accountable executive for Standard Bank's subsidiaries outside of South Africa.

Qualifications: MSc in Financial Economics (University of London); MBA (University of the Witwatersrand)

Chairman

René van Wyk

René van Wyk

Independent Non-Executive Chairman

René was appointed as the Chairman of Absa Group and Absa Bank effective 15 July 2025.

René originally joined the Absa Group Board as an independent non-executive director on 1 February 2017. He served as the Group Chief Executive from 1 March 2019 to 14 January 2020, re-joined the board as a non-executive director from 1 August 2020 and became an independent non-executive director from 1 August 2021. He was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Absa Bank Limited on 1 February 2022.

He is the Chairman of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC) and a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC) and Remuneration Committee (RemCo).

René is the former registrar of Banks and head of banking supervision of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and retired from that position in May 2016.
Prior to that, René was with the Nedbank Group of companies from 1993 to 2011, where he occupied various positions, notably executive director responsible for risk at Nedcor Investment Bank, and CEO of Imperial Bank (a subsidiary of Nedbank).
In his earlier years with KPMG he served as a partner in the financial services group.

René is a non-executive director of Motus Holdings Limited.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Accounting Science (Hons), Advanced Management Programme (Insead), and is a Chartered Accountant, CA (SA).

Executive directors

Kenny Fihla

Kenny Fihla

Group Chief Executive Officer

Kenny was appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer and executive director of Absa Group and Absa Bank, effective 17 June 2025.

Kenny is a recognised leader with substantial Pan-African banking experience and a proven track record.

He has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership roles in the banking sector. He joined Standard Bank Group in 2006 as head of Investor Services, Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB). In 2008, he was appointed head of Transactional Products and Services, SA, for Standard Bank CIB, whereafter he was appointed deputy chief executive of CIB in November 2016 and chief executive officer of CIB in May 2017, a role he held until August 2024. He was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank Group and Chief Executive Officer Standard Bank South Africa effective 1 September 2024. As Deputy Chief Executive, he was the accountable executive for Standard Bank's subsidiaries outside of South Africa.

Qualifications: MSc in Financial Economics (University of London); MBA (University of the Witwatersrand)
Deon Raju

Deon Raju

Group Financial Director

Deon was appointed as Group Financial Director on 26 April 2024 and he joined the Board on the same day.

Prior to this role, he was Absa’s Group Chief Risk Officer from 1 June 2021 and was a member of the Executive Committee and the Group Treasurer 5 years before that, where he was primarily responsible for the liquidity risk, funding, capital, and non-traded market risks of the Group.

He is a member of the Models Committee (MC), Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC) and Information Technology Committee (ITC).

Deon has been with Absa for over 20 years and has held a variety of roles within the organisation – including roles within Enterprise Risk, Finance, Investment Banking, Credit Portfolio Management and Global Markets. He is a seasoned banking professional with deep institutional knowledge of the Group, as well extensive and diversified banking experience in business, finance and risk management.

Qualifications: B Com (Hons); CA (SA); CFA.

Independent non-executive directors

Tasneem Abdool-Samad

Tasneem Abdool-Samad

Independent Non-Executive Director

Tasneem has been on the Absa Bank Board as an independent non-executive director since 2016, and joined the Board (Absa Group) as an independent non-executive director on 1 February 2018. She joined the Group Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC) on 1 April 2018 and assumed the position of GACC chairman from 4 June 2020. She rejoined the board of Absa Bank Limited as independent non-executive director with effect from 4 June 2020.

Tasneem is also a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC) and Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC). She is the Chairman of the Absa Financial Services Board.

Tasneem started her career at Deloitte in KwaZulu-Natal. She then moved to the University of the Witwatersrand, where she was a lecturer in auditing from 2003 to 2006. In 2006 she rejoined Deloitte and is a former member of the Deloitte South Africa board.

Tasneem is an independent non-executive chairman of Absa Financial Services Limited, and is a non-executive director of Reunert Limited, and Bid Corporation Limited.

Qualifications: BCom; CA (SA)
Rose Keanly

Rose Keanly

Independent Non-Executive Director

Rose joined the board as an independent non-executive director on 1 September 2019. She is a member of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC), Information Technology Committee (ITC), Social, Sustainability and Ethics Committee (SSEC), and is the chairman of the Group Remuneration Committee (RemCo) . She has been a member of the Absa Financial Services (AFS) Board since July 2020. She was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Absa Bank Limited with effect from 8 February 2022.

Rose retired as the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Old Mutual Emerging Markets (OMEM) in February 2018, following a career with the Old Mutual group spanning 38 years and various, mainly information technology and operations related, positions. Prior to her position as COO, she was the Managing Director of OMEM Customer Services and Technology. Rose currently also serves as a non-executive director of the Gender-Based Violence Fund (GBVF).

Qualifications: BSc; BCom (Honours).
Nonhlanhla Mjoli-Mncube

Nonhlanhla Mjoli-Mncube

Lead Independent Director

Nonhlanhla joined the board as an independent non-executive director on 15 October 2020. She is a member of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC), Social, Sustainability and Ethics Committee (SSEC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC). She was appointed as the lead independent director of both the Group and Absa Bank boards with effect from 8 February 2022.

She is the former economic advisor to the Presidency, former chairman of the National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency and former deputy chair of the Construction Industry Development Board. Nonhlanhla serves on the board and audit committee of Zeder Investment Limited, is a non-executive director of Zeder Financial Services Limited, and has previously served on the boards of several other listed companies including Capitec Bank, WBHO Construction, Cadiz Financial Services, Tongaat Hulett and Pioneer Foods.

Qualifications: Post-Graduate Certificate (Engineering Business Management); Fellowship in Urban Development (MIT); Masters in Urban and Regional Planning.
Alison Beck

Alison Beck

Independent Non-Executive Director

Alison joined the Board as an independent non-executive director on 1 December 2023.
She is a member of the Group Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC), Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC) and Models Committee (MC). Alison joined KPMG in 1990 as a senior consultant and was made a director in 1996 and a partner in 1998 in Financial Services.

She was head of Financial Risk Management for 15 years, representing the South African practice in the global centres of excellence for Central Banking and Financial Risk Management.
Alison retired from KPMG in May 2020.

Qualifications: BCom CA (Scotland) Associate Diploma (Institute of Bankers South Africa)
Fulvio Tonelli

Fulvio Tonelli

Independent Non-Executive Director

Fulvio joined the Absa Group Limited Board as a non-independent non-executive director on 1 July 2020.

He became an independent non-executive director on 1 July 2023. He is the interim Chairman, a member of the Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC) and the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC) and a member of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC) and Group Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC).

He is also a non-executive director of Absa Bank Kenya Plc.

Fulvio was, until the end of June 2019, the Chief Operating Officer at PwC Africa and a member of the firm’s leadership team. In this role, he assisted in the delivery of the firm’s strategic direction and was also responsible for the effective operation of the firm’s risk management, finance, information technology and other internal firm services.

Fulvio retired from PwC in June 2020, having joined PwC in July 1987. Prior to that, he completed his articles at Deloitte.

Fulvio is an independent non-executive director of Equites Property Fund Limited, Life Healthcare Group Holdings Limited and The Ethics Institute. He is Chairman of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA).

Qualifications: BCom (Hons), CA(SA).
Luisa Diogo

Luisa Diogo

Lead Independent Director

Luisa joined the Board as an independent non-executive director on 1 September 2023 and is a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Social, Sustainability and Ethics Committee (SSEC).
Luisa is currently a non-executive director on the board of Total Mozambique.
She is the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Mozambique (2004 to 2010) and the Minister of Planning and Finance (2000 to 2004).
She is a seasoned leader with many years of experience in financial services and in the broader areas of economics, strategy and stakeholder management.
Qualifications: B Econ (Eduardo Mondlane University); Masters in Financial Economics (University of London)

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