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.

Independent directors

Sello Moloko

Sello Moloko (56)

Independent Non-Executive Chairman

Sello was appointed to the board as an independent non-executive director and Chairman designate of Absa Group and Absa Bank with effect from 1 December 2021. On 1 April 2022, he took over from previous Chairman Wendy Lucas-Bull, who stepped down on 31 March 2022.

He is a member of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC), Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Remuneration Committee (RemCo) and Social, Sustainability and Ethics Committee (SSEC).

Sello has a career spanning close to 30 years in the financial services industry. He is a former CEO of Old Mutual Asset Managers, where he was also a member of the Old Mutual South Africa executive team. Thereafter, he founded Thesele Group, an investment holding company, where he is the Executive Chairman. He has served as chairman of the boards of Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Limited for 10 years from 2007 and has also chaired the boards of Sibanye-Stillwater Limited and General Reinsurance Africa Limited (a Berkshire Hathaway company), amongst others. He is also a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. He currently serves as chairman of Telkom SA SOC Limited.

Qualifications: Advanced Management Program (AMP); Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE); BSc (Hons).
Alex Darko

Independent Non-Executive Director

Alex Darko (69)

Independent Non-Executive Director

Alex joined the board as an independent non-executive director in 2014 and is a member of the Group Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC), Group Remuneration Committee (RemCo), Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC) and is the chairman of the Information Technology Committee (ITC). Alex was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Absa Bank Limited on 1 December 2021.

Alex held a number of senior positions at Dun & Bradstreet, including director of UK shared services, director of finance at Dun & Bradstreet Europe Ltd and head of accounting re-engineering. He later moved back to Ghana and worked for Ashanti Goldfields in a number of senior roles. Alex was vice-president, knowledge and information at AngloGold Ashanti from 2005 to 2010.

Alex is a director at Nkululeko Leadership Consulting where he advises organisations on leadership, culture, strategy and change management. He is also a non-executive director of Reunert Limited.

Qualifications: MSc (MIS); Fellow of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).
Francis Okomo-Okello

Francis Okomo-Okello (72)

Independent Non-Executive Director

Francis joined the Absa Group Limited board as an independent director in 2014, and was appointed as the chairman of the Social and Ethics Committee (SEC) with effect from 4 June 2020 and is a member of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC). Francis also joined as independent non-executive director of Absa Bank Limited from 4 June 2020.

Francis is an Albert Parvin fellow of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs), Princeton University, and a fellow of The Kenya Institute of Bankers. He is also an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He serves as chairman of TPS Eastern Africa Plc (Serena Group of Hotels and Lodges), and as a non-executive director of the Nation Media Group Plc. Currently, Francis is the executive director at Industrial Promotion Services Group of Companies, an affiliate of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.

He also serves as a member of the advisory board of the Strathmore Business School (Strathmore University, Nairobi) and a member of the advisory committee of the Aga Khan University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences – East Africa.

Qualifications: LLB (Hons).
Tasneem Abdool-Samad

Tasneem Abdool-Samad (47)

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), Board Finance Committee (BFC) and Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC).

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, Long4Life Limited and Bid Corporation Limited.

Qualifications: BCom; CA (SA)
René van Wyk

René van Wyk (65)

Independent Non-Executive Director

René rejoined the Absa Group Board as a non-executive director from 1 August 2020. He served as the Group Chief Executive from 1 March 2019 to 14 January 2020. Following a cooling-off period of 12 months, René has since been regarded as 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.

René originally joined the board as an independent non-executive director on 1 February 2017. He is a member of the Group Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC), Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC) and is the chairman of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), and Board Finance Committee (BFC).

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, in the risk field, notably executive director responsible for risk at Nedcor Investment Bank, and CEO of Imperial Bank (a subsidiary of Nedbank). In his earlier years, he joined KPMG and became a partner in the financial services group.

Qualifications: BCom; BCompt (Hons); CA (SA).
Rose Keanly

Rose Keanly (63)

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 and Ethics Committee (SEC), 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.

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

Nonhlanhla Mjoli-Mncube (63)

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 and Ethics Committee (SEC) and Board Finance Committee (BFC). 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 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.

Executive directors

Arrie Rautenbach

Arrie Rautenbach (57)

Group Chief Executive Officer

Arrie was appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director of Absa Group and Absa Bank, effective from 29 March 2022. He was previously the Chief Executive: Retail and Business Banking South Africa. He is a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), Social, Sustainability and Ethics Committee (SSEC), Information Technology Committee (ITC) and Models Committee (MC).

With more than 25 years banking experience, Arrie previously served as the Group’s Chief Risk Officer simultaneously providing executive leadership for the Group Separation Program and Group Strategy Office. His earlier roles within the Group included a number of leadership positions such as the Head of Retail Banking in South Africa, Managing Executive of Absa Card and Head of Absa’s Distribution portfolio.

Arrie has contributed to the industry through his board executive membership of the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) and board memberships of Ford Financial Services (Pty) Limited and Woolworths Financial Services (Pty) Limited. He has also been a director of Absa Financial Services Limited.

Qualifications: BBA, AMP, MBA.
Jason Quinn

Jason Quinn (47)

Group Financial Director

Jason resumed the role of Financial Director of Absa Group and Absa Bank, following his appointment as interim Group Chief Executive Officer with effect from 20 April 2021 until 28 March 2022. He remains an Executive Director on the Boards. Jason held the position of Group Financial Director from August 2016 to April 2021.

Jason joined the board and executive committee in September 2016. He is the chairman of the Models Committee (MC) and a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), and Information Technology Committee (ITC). He is an executive director of the Absa Bank Limited Board.

Before joining Absa Group, he was a partner at Ernst & Young Inc. Jason joined the Group in 2008 as the financial controller and was appointed as the head of finance in 2014 after holding several senior finance positions. Jason was appointed as Group Financial Director in September 2016.

Jason is a director of Absa Financial Services Limited, Woolworths Financial Services (Pty) Limited and is an employer-appointed trustee of the Absa Pension Fund.

Qualifications: BAcc (Hons); CA(SA).