(Bloomberg) -- Standard Bank Group Ltd. appointed Kenny Fihla as deputy chief executive officer of Africa’s biggest lender by assets, positioning him as a likely successor to Group CEO Sim Tshabalala.
Fihla, who joined the Johannesburg-based lender in 2006 as head of investor services in its commercial and investment banking unit, rose through its ranks to become that division’s leader from May 2017. Tshabalala took over as sole CEO of the group in the same year, and was joint chief with Ben Kruger from 2013.
Fihla — who will also become chief of the South Africa business — should succeed Tshabalala “in the next couple of years,” said Adrienne Damant, an analyst at Avior Capital Markets Pty Ltd. He “has the business and regional experience to lead the group and is a good fit,” she said.
Luvuyo Masinda, who is currently Fihla’s deputy at the CIB unit, will succeed him from Sept. 1, Standard Bank said in a statement on Friday. Lungisa Fuzile — a former director-general of South Africa’s National Treasury — will step down as head of the South Africa unit and become group head of public policy and regulation, as well as regional CEO of the southern and central area of the continental portfolio.
Africa Regions and Offshore CEO Yinka Sanni will become a group executive leading the lender’s relationships with some top clients and regulators, and will support Fihla in “refining the structure” of the business that Sanni currently leads.
Standard becomes the latest South African lender to effect senior-management changes as banks navigate high interest rates in all of their regions, as well as weak consumer and business confidence weighing on customers in their home market.
Absa Group Ltd., South Africa’s third-biggest bank by assets, on Aug. 19 named Charles Russon as interim CEO to replace incumbent Arrie Rautenbach, who requested early retirement.
Nedbank Group Ltd. hired Jason Quinn from Absa to replace Mike Brown — who retired after being at the lender’s helm from 2010. He started May 31.
FirstRand Ltd. in October named Mary Vilakazi as the first black female CEO of Africa’s biggest lender by market value, and Chief Financial Officer Harry Kellan took over as the CEO of the group’s largest unit — First National Bank — on April 1.
Standard Bank is turning its attention to East Africa as it seeks to grow its footprint across the continent in the medium term, CEO Tshabalala said earlier this month.
The management changes will “assist the group in the ongoing process of ensuring it has the number and depth of executives it needs to maintain and extend the group’s success into the future,” the lender said.
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“Africa is Standard Bank’s growth vector and focus area,” Damant said, adding that growing in-country franchises is also a priority.
Standard Bank shares retreated as much as 1.3%, before paring the decline to 1.1% by 12:25 p.m. in Johannesburg. The stock has climbed 15% in 2024, lagging a 21% increase in the FTSE/JSE Banks Index over the same period.
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(Updates share movement in final paragraph.)
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