Absa chair Sello Moloko will step down as chairman on July 15.
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Absa Group chairman Sello Moloko will step down as chairman and independent non-executive director of the board on July 15, the bank said Wednesday.
He will be succeeded by René van Wyk, effective on the same date, subject to regulatory approval. Moloko would work with Van Wyk over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition.
“Moloko, who has led the strategic work of the board, will be handing over the reins for the next phase of leadership and for him to focus on his family, personal business interests, and community commitments,” the bank’s board said in a statement.
Moloko said the board had dealt with several challenges in 2024, and as a result, did work to reposition the group for a more sustainable performance trajectory, which included appointing a permanent chief executive and initiating the restructure of our retail operating model.
“These challenges have prompted me to reflect on the demands on my time. I feel the time is ripe to refocus my attention on my family, my community commitments, and the several personal business initiatives outside the group that I need to drive. This will, naturally, adversely affect my ability to devote the requisite time to a group of the scale of Absa,” he said.
Van Wyk was interim group CEO in 2019. He re-joined the Absa board as a non-executive director from August 1, 2020, and became an independent non-executive director from August 1, 2021.
He is the chairman of the Absa Group Risk and Capital Management Committee, and Group Credit Risk Committee, and is a member of the Directors’ Affairs Committee and the Group Audit and Compliance Committee, and was a member of the Board Finance Committee. His committee memberships and chairmanships will be revised upon his appointment as Chairman.
Van Wyk was also a former Registrar of Banks and head of banking supervision of the South African Reserve Bank until May 2016. Prior to that, he was with the Nedbank Group 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).
Van Wyk holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Accounting Science (Hons), Advanced Management Programme (Insead), and is a Chartered Accountant, CA (SA).
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