Absa is poised to name Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, CEO of Africa’s largest fintech platform, M-Pesa, as the next head of its personal and private banking business , in a major coup for Kenny Fihla as he completes appointments of his senior executive team.
Business Day understands that Absa has received regulatory approvals for Kenyan-born Lopokoiyit’s appointment, with the announcement of his appointment to the role imminent.
Lopokoiyit’s appointment as head of the Absa division, the first non-South African to hold the job, is seen as an inspired choice for Fihla, who is looking to inject new energy into the unit, which has underperformed the sector for some time.
With Absa also looking to grow its retail presence in East Africa, particularly Kenya, Lopokoiyit’s imminent appointment is also seen to boost the East Africa push, as he has intimate knowledge of the market, having led mobile money businesses in two of the largest markets in Africa — Kenya and Tanzania.
East Africa expansion
The appointment also gives East Africa representation at the highest decision-making echelons at Absa, a company looking to cash in on the region’s economic boom.
It was not immediately clear whether Lopokoiyit will be based in Johannesburg or Nairobi.
Fihla in December told investors that the lender had identified a candidate to lead the division and would make an announcement after receiving the green light from the Reserve Bank.
It will be the first time Fihla has looked outside his old stomping ground, Standard Bank, to beef up his new-look executive team as he looks to set the group on a higher growth path.
Absa has already pried away Zaid Moola from Standard Bank to head its corporate and investment banking unit — a key cog in its strategy to geographically diversify its earnings from its largest market, South Africa.
Before the appointment, Moola led Standard Bank’s highly successful global markets team.
Absa has also appointed Musa Motloung as group strategic risk officer, also joining from Standard Bank, where he was chief risk officer in the CIB business. Motloung reports to chief risk officer Rajal Vaidya.
Avikaar Ramphal also crossed the floor from Standard Bank to Absa, joining Absa as head of strategic risk. Ramphal’s most recent role was that of portfolio head, strategy enablement at Standard Bank’s corporate and investment banking.
Return on equity goals
In the group’s investor call in December, Fihla highlighted features of the new strategy, aimed at increasing the group’s return on equity to be on par with its bigger rivals.
The new strategy Fihla unveiled rests on four pillars: customer-led growth, building a diversified pan-African business, driving excellence, and pursuing new growth opportunities.
At the heart of the strategy rejig is the lender’s need to wean itself off dependence on South Africa, Kenya and Ghana for earnings.
Absa’s high CEO turnover over the past decade and strategy mishaps have been largely blamed for the group’s underperformance compared with its peer group and loss of market share.
Fihla became the seventh Absa CEO, either on an acting or permanent basis, since 2019 after years of turmoil at the top.
M-Pesa, largely regarded as Africa’s “super app”, was established as a joint venture between Safaricom and Vodacom.
It has grown to be one of Africa’s biggest fintech success stories, with more than 60-million clients, processing about $1bn a day in transactions.
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