Absa has appointed one of its long-standing black executives to its CEO's office to provide operational support and strategic advice to Arrie Rautenbach.
The banking group said Dawn Mthombeni will start a new role as the executive in the office of the CEO on 1 August. The support she will provide to Rautenbach will ensure that the group's mandates, priorities and agenda of the CEO's office are delivered with efficiency.
The bank said this is in line with its commitment to "growing its own timber" that Rautenbach spoke about when he announced changes to the bank's operating structure recently.
During that announcement, Absa promoted several black executives to become part of the group exco, bringing black representation at its leadership level closer to 50%. Mthombeni will not be taking a seat on the group exco, though.
"As we intensify our efforts to compete and excite our clients, Absa Group remains committed to rewarding and promoting dedicated and talented individuals," said Rautenbach about Mthombeni's appointment. "Her appointment is yet another key step in our ongoing journey to build a leading African bank with a diverse and inclusive leadership," he added.
Mthombeni is currently the chief risk officer at Absa's engineering services department. She has been with Absa since 2018, and before that, she was part of the bank's former parent company, the Barclays Africa Group.
She has served the two groups in several executive roles, including as COO of Corporate and Investment Banking outside of SA. Before that, she was with Standard Bank for almost 15 years and FNB for four.
Rautenbach hailed her for being well-versed in driving business change initiatives and constructing and executing risk mitigation strategies.
Mthombeni has a degree in industrial psychology, an MBA from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a Master of Philosophy Phil in Development Finance from Stellenbosch University. She also recently completed an advanced management programme with IMD in Switzerland. In addition, she is a fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative South Africa, where she contributes to solving problems specific to the African continent.
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