New Absa CEO Kenny Fihla is working on a strategic overhaul aimed at deepening the bank’s pan-African presence, refining inherited foundations amid an industrywide march to East Africa.
Fihla, who has been in the role for two months after taking over from Charles Russon, who was acting on an interim basis, said the group had the tools to win at home and on the rest of the continent, with the latter set to be the heart of his growth blueprint.
Having joined Absa from rivals Standard Bank in June, Fihla said his immediate task was to stabilise leadership and make permanent appointments to key roles.
“The current strategy is good. But it is a strategy that was intended to stabilise the organisation. If we stop [at stabilising the group] it would be inadequate,” he said.
“Over and above stabilising the organisation, we have to think about growth. There will be refinements to the strategy to take the good work that has been done at stabilising the business to the next level to drive growth and improvement, and returns.”
This comes as Fihla implements changes in the group’s operating model in its businesses to think pan-African in approach. He joins his former employer in pursuit of returns in the East Africa region, whose integration, demographics and higher GDP growth rates have given executives, investors and policymakers an example of what is possible under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
To tap into growth opportunities in the fastest-growing East African region, Fihla said the group aimed to consolidate its Tanzanian business to build scale in the country, whose economy is growing at about 5%.
“We have two banks in Tanzania. We are in the process of engaging with the government of Tanzania with the view of merging the two institutions,” Fihla said on Monday.
“We think that will extract massive benefits and value for the group, by creating a more scalable platform in East Africa.”
Absa has a presence in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in East Africa, with Fihla having already visited the latter two in his first two months in office.
“Uganda is also a very important market for us. We are the third-biggest bank in the country. We have a massive opportunity to increase our market share quite significantly and become the number one bank in Uganda,” Fihla said.
We remain open to additional opportunities as and when they present themselves. About 80% of Africa’s bankable revenues are in 10 large countries. We will continue to think about which other corridors to tap into.
— Kenny Fihla
New Absa CEO
“If one looks at the overall performance of East Africa over the last couple of years, you will see substantially higher growth rates. This presents massive opportunities for banks operating in that market.”
Outside East Africa, Fihla said growth was still attractive for Absa.
He pointed to improving macroeconomics in Ghana, where the bank has a presence, saying the group needed to remain relevant in that market.
Fihla was speaking to Business Day shortly after Absa reported a 17% increase to R11.87bn in headline earnings in the six months ended June. The group’s return on equity (ROE) improved to 14.8% from 14%, inching closer to Russon’s target of 16% by 2026 to be on par with peers.
Russon anchored his plans on profitability instead of market share, customer focus over product push and capital allocation discipline. The group stuck to the ROE — a widely watched profitability indicator — target of 16% for 2026.
SA headline earnings increased 19%, while Africa regions increased 13%. Africa regions contributed 32% of total revenue and 34% of group earnings.
Fihla said the group had exposure to about half of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.
“We remain open to additional opportunities as and when they present themselves. About 80% of Africa’s bankable revenues are in 10 large countries. We will continue to think about which other corridors to tap into,” he said.
“That might mean being selective on the type of business we do, whether it is trade finance or leveraging our global markets capabilities and so on. We will not [go] full monty into markets we do not understand.”
Absa said the global economic environment was likely to remain uncertain, largely due to the sweeping, volatile changes being announced by the Trump administration in the US.
Absa has reduced its SA 2025 GDP growth forecast to 0.9% given the weak start to the year and the negative effects of the US trade tariffs.
“Continued focus on structural reform and the lagged impact of lower rates are expected to enable GDP growth to improve to 1.4% in 2026,” it said.
“Though inflation is likely to increase during the second half of 2025, the rise is not expected to place undue further pressure on consumers, or cause the Reserve Bank to raise rates, even as the [monetary policy committee] seeks to gain credibility for its push to a 3% preference rate for inflation,” it said.
Absa’s baseline forecast for its Africa region countries is that GDP will rise slightly to 4.8% in 2025 and 5.1% in 2026. Botswana is an outlier, where the group expects a second year of contraction.
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