Kenny Fihla's vision for Absa Group: Stability and growth

ABSA Group's frequent leadership changes over the past few years mean its business units and operations may be running on “autopilot,” and the bank’s strategy will be sharpened over the next two months, the bank’s CEO Kenny Fihla said on Monday.

- EDWARD WEST

Speaking at the bank’s online interim results presentation, Fihla, who has been CEO since June 17, said there were a “whole range of initiatives” underway at the group, which gave him confidence that it would reach a return on equity (ROE) of 16% - although the ROE target for the 2026 financial year had not formally been set yet.

However, he said these initiatives were designed to stabilise the group, and a “reset” was needed to “sharpen the focus” of the organisation.

He said since he had become CEO, he had engaged with stakeholders and executives across the 16 countries in Africa where the group operates, and in South Africa, and there were two “common threads” from these meetings: a concern about high management churn, while part of the business had become inward-focused.