Absa’s CEO for everyday banking Christine Wu has left the bank shortly after the group’s erstwhile acting CEO of corporate and investment banking Yasmin Masithela took early retirement while group CEO Kenny Fihla injects new energy in the lender’s top management.
Wu, who served as the interim co-CEO of personal and private banking (PPB) until the appointment of Sitoyo Lopokoiyit in April, took to Linkedin to announce her tenure at the country’s third-largest bank had come to an end.
“After almost eight incredible years, I’m wrapping up my chapter at Absa. Walt Whitman wrote: ‘I am large; I contain multitudes.’ That’s how I’ll remember this journey — expanded my multitudes with beautiful contradictions,” Wu wrote.
“During a time of great uncertainty and challenges, I’m proud of the progress we achieved together: advancing and modernising the digital and data agenda, pioneering new customer capabilities that improved the experience we deliver, and building a stronger external orientation through key partnerships. To everyone who was part of this, thank you. It was a privilege.”
The group, which has more than R2-trillion in assets, has been on a hiring spree across its key business units, corporate and investment banking (CIB), PPB and business banking to pursue a new strategy laid out by Fihla in December to build a Pan-African, client-focused lender.
The exits of senior management and the hiring of a slew of new talent are not entirely surprising.
In a frank assessment, Absa in its 2025 annual report acknowledged its shareholders were unhappy about the performance of its South African retail businesses and the depth of talent in its executive team.
Absa’s retail business, historically its biggest strength, has been underperforming rivals for some years, losing its dominant position in the home loans market to Standard Bank.
The lender also used to have the biggest market share in deposits by individuals, a leadership position it has also lost.
A few years ago, in a strategic misstep, the retail business was split into “everyday banking”, “relationship banking” and “product solutions” clusters, a move that failed to yield the desired results.
Charles Russon recombined the businesses in 2024 during his interim CEO stint.
Chief among the concerns raised by shareholders before Fihla’s appointment last year was the bench strength of the group’s executive leadership, a concern Fihla has wasted little time in addressing since taking over the reins in June after a decade of leadership instability.
Fihla has largely looked to Standard Bank, particularly its dominant CIB franchise, to beef up Absa’s top echelons with industry-respected talent.
Absa appointed Zaid Moola as CEO of its CIB businesses. Moola spent much of his career at Standard Bank, rising to the role of head of its global markets business, an indispensable cog in Standard Bank’s CIB business.
Absa appointed Musa Motloung as group strategic risk officer, also joining from Standard Bank, where he was chief risk officer in the CIB business.
Avikaar Ramphal also joined Absa as its head of strategic risk from Standard Bank, where he was 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.
Investment banker Sola Adegbesan also crossed the floor from Standard Bank.
Adegbesan has been appointed managing executive responsible for CIB Africa Regions, reporting to Moola.
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.
Absa has not only raided Standard Bank for talent. Investment bankers Saloshni Pillay and Giles Douglas have crossed the floor from Deutsche Bank and Rothschild and Co, respectively.
To get the group’s PPB on a higher growth trajectory, Fihla appointed M-Pesa’s Lopokoiyit to head the franchise. The respected Kenyan-born executive assumed the role in April.
Business Day
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