Paul O’Flaherty, who has previously served as CFO at Eskom and CEO of ArcelorMittal SA, replaces Charles Russon, as the head of engineering services and also join the executive committee.
This was confirmed by the company as part of executive restructuring.
O’Flaherty will oversee Absa’s Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB).
He was chosen to spearhead the separation programme because it required complex separation of IT systems and other engineering programmes, Absa said.
CIB is one of four operating divisions set up by the bank’s CE Maria Ramos in a restructuring that followed Barclays’s decision to sell down its majority stake and reduce its presence in Africa, part of CEO Jes Staley’s strategy to boost the bank’s capital and concentrate on its US and UK markets.
“Our CIB business is an important driver of our growth ambitions across the continent, while engineering services is central to the transformation of our business into a digitally led bank,” Ramos said.
Russon, a qualified chartered accountant, started his career with Merrill Lynch before working in London at Deutsche Bank for eight years, where he had roles in finance, fixed income, derivatives and trading.
He joined Absa Capital, CIB’s predecessor, in 2006 and has occupied senior executive roles including those of CFO and COO. Russon has been a member of the Absa executive committee since 2014.
With constant economic changes globally, other banks will follow suit.
