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Absa bolsters leadership with new Group Executive appointments

Absa bolsters leadership with new Group Executive appointments
08-12-22 / Tau kaVodloza

Absa bolsters leadership with new Group Executive appointments

Johannesburg - Absa Group Ltd. has today announced the appointment of three Group executives, with effect 1 January 2023. The banking Group said this signals further progress in its ambition to create a winning, talented and diverse team.

“The appointments build on the positive momentum that was achieved through Executive Committee changes and an operating model refinement earlier this year,” said Absa Group Chief Executive Officer, Arrie Rautenbach. “The appointments strengthen our leadership team, adding to the bench of skill, experience and diversity appropriate to, and supportive of our ambition to be a leading Pan-African bank,” he said.

The appointments include:

Jeanett Modise, Absa Group Chief People Officer

Jeanett is an accomplished human resources (HR) professional with extensive experience at executive level, driving HR strategy, operations, turnaround and digital transformation in local and global organisations. Jeanett has worked with executive teams and Boards for more than 20 years and has held several Board positions.

She is currently Group Human Resources director at Sanlam Limited, a position she has held since July 2019. She joined Sanlam Group in 2014 as executive head of HR and Transformation at Santam and thereafter Chief HR Officer for Sanlam Investments Group. Prior to joining the Sanlam Group, Jeanett held senior HR roles at a number of blue-chip companies including SAP, AngloGold Ashanti, Industrial Development Corporation, Mutual & Federal and Hewlett Packard among, others.

Jeanette has held several Board roles, including Executive Director on the Board of Sanlam Limited and Sanlam Life and Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Board HR & Remuneration committee at Foskor. She served as Non-Executive Director at Cordustex, Indwe Broker Holdings, MiWay Insurance and Save the Children South Africa, a global NGO.

She holds a Diploma, General Nursing, and Midwifery, a B. Com in Business Management and a Master of Business Leadership, Senior Executive Programme (Havard), Advanced Management Programme (Insead).

Johnson Idesoh, Absa Group Chief Information and Technology Officer

Johnson has 25 years of experience in leading digitalisation in regulated industries and a proven track record in delivering and embedding digital strategies that improve customer experience and increase digital customer numbers. He is recognised in the Global CIO 100 for 2022.

He is currently Group Chief Information Officer at Old Mutual, a position he has held since 2018. He was appointed Chief Technology Officer – Emerging Markets at Old Mutual in 2014. He has 25 years of experience in leading digitalisation in regulated industries.

Johnson was employed at Aviva, a UK insurance, wealth and retirement business, during 2005-2014, holding various information and technology roles, including COO Shared Services Director and Group Functions IT Directors.

He holds a BEng Avionics (University of Glasgow), Master of Business Administration (University of Strathclyde) and an Advanced Management Programme (Harvard Business School).

Sydney Mbhele, Absa Group Chief Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer

Sydney has a 25-year career in the brand-building and marketing sector, working at blue-chip companies. He was nominated as 2022 marketer of the year (South Africa) and rated as a top five Chief Marketing Officer in Africa and the Middle East in 2021.

Sydney is currently Chief Executive: Brand at Sanlam Group and a member of the Group Executive Committee. He joined Sanlam in 2019 from Liberty Group, where he was Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. He was Executive Head – Group Marketing at Nedbank Ltd from 2011 to 2017. Prior to this, he held brand and marketing roles at consumer sector companies including SAB Miller, Unilever, Cell C and DIAGEO.

Sydney is currently chairman of the Marketing Association of South Africa.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree, Social Science, University of Cape Town, Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Marketing Management, and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA).

All three executives have significant experience, having operated across multiple markets on the continent and elsewhere. 

“We have made significant progress in delivering on our strategic agenda and in strengthening our leadership and organisational capability this year,” said Rautenbach. “We are well positioned for commercial outperformance going forward.”

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