African Bank shifts focus from expansion to execution

African Bank chair Thabo Dloti said the new leadership team announced this week is expected to hit the ground running as part of its mandate to execute the lender’s consolidation journey following a series of acquisitions to diversify the group’s portfolio.

The bank plans to go back to basics by ensuring it wins the battle to service its customers in a competitive environment and bed down acquisitions made under its previous “Excelerate” strategy.

The lender is on the back foot after posting a R624m half-year loss for the six months ended June this year and announcing a section 189 process to reduce costs, including possible job cuts.

Dloti told Business Times on Friday that African Bank is not changing its broad strategy but is simply consolidating its acquired assets, with an emphasis on execution.

“Execution is a big emphasis that’s very different, perhaps, from simply saying we are bringing visionaries that are going to rethink the whole strategy,” he said.

“We’re saying, how do we execute simply on what we have started and make sure that we achieve results out of it? That is very critical. Unfortunately, that requires hitting the ground running.”

Dloti said time was of the essence, as execution was not something that could be put off for long.

“It’s not where you choose to be, but that’s where we are. [The team’s] job is not to sit around and wait for things to happen or assess. It’s to provide guidance to the organisation and their teams at a time of massive change in an emotionally charged organisation. So, absolutely, we really expect them to hit the ground running,” he said.

The board ousted former CEO Kennedy Bungane in March following reporting issues flagged by the Prudential Authority and the group’s poor financial performance. It appointed veteran banker Zweli Manyathi as permanent CEO and increased the retirement age for executives beyond 65 to accommodate his appointment.

This week, African Bank announced additions to its leadership team, including Happy Ralinala as CEO of personal banking, Keketso Motsoene as CEO of business and commercial banking, Bongani Mageba as CEO of insurance, and Linda Mthenjane as group chief people and culture officer.

The bank appointed Given Bhutana Mabena as acting group CFO following Anbann Chetti’s immediate resignation on September 11.

The lender’s consolidation follows its acquisition of Ubank, Grindrod Bank and Sasfin Bank’s commercial equipment finance and commercial property finance businesses.

Dloti said that while there may have been delays in implementing the acquisitions, they were well conceived.

“I don’t think the acquisitions were a mistake. In fact, they’ve added something quite unique to the vision of African Bank,” he added.