Our delegation in Davos

Absa is proud to lend their voice to discussions at the 54th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

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Charles Russon
Interim Group Chief Executive Officer

Charles was appointed as Interim Group Chief Executive Officer on 15 October 2024 and he joined the Board on the same date.
Prior to the appointment date, he was Chief Executive of Absa's Corporate and Investment Bank ("CIB").
His earlier roles within the Group included a number of leadership positions such as Acting Group Executive: Absa Regional Operations; Group Chief Operating Officer; Regional Head of Finance; Chief Operating Officer of Corporate and Investment Banking; and Chief Executive: Engineering Services.
He joined the Group in 2006 and the Executive Committee in 2014.
He is a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), Social, Sustainability and Ethics Committee (SSEC), and Information Technology Committee (ITC).
He completed his articles with KPMG and then joined Merrill Lynch in London as financial controller for credit products.
Charles worked for Deutsche Bank in London and Frankfurt from 1998 to 2006 as the rates Head of Product Control before he joined Absa Capital in September 2006 as Chief Financial Officer.
Qualifications: CA (SA)

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Punki Modise
Group Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer

Punki was appointed as the Group Chief and Sustainability Officer with effect from 1 July 2022.
She has previously held the roles of Interim Chief Executive: RBB and Interim Financial Director.
Punki joined Absa Group in 2008 and has held various senior management positions, including that of Chief Financial Officer: Retail and Business Banking since June 2016.
Previous roles include Head: Transactional Banking, Chief of Staff: Retail Banking and Chief Financial Officer: Distribution Channels.
Prior to joining Absa Group, she held positions at Standard Bank and Fedsure, having completed her articles at PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.
Punki is a non-executive director of Absa Life Limited, Woolworths Financial Services (Pty) Limited and Ford Financial Services (Pty) Ltd.
Qualifications: B Com; CA(SA); Masters in Financial Management

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Johnson Idesoh
Group Chief Information and Technology Officer

Johnson was appointed as Group Chief Information and Technology Officer with effect from 1 January 2023.
He was previously the  Group Chief Information Officer at Old Mutual, a position he has held since 2018.
He has 25 years of experience in leading digitalisation in regulated industries.
Johnson was previously employed at Aviva, a UK insurance, wealth and retirement business, during 2005 - 2014, holding various information and technology roles, including COO Shared Services Director and Group Functions IT Directors.
Prior to this, he was Executive Vice President, Programme Director at biopharmaceutical business AstraZeneca (1998-2005).
Qualifications: Advanced Management Programme; MBA; B Eng

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Sydney Mbhele
Group Chief Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer

Sydney was appointed as Group Chief Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer with effect from 1 January 2023.
He was  previously the Chief Executive: Brand at Sanlam Group and a member of the Group Executive Committee.
He joined Sanlam in 2019 from Liberty Group, where he was Chief Marketing and Communications Officer.
He was Executive Head – Group Marketing at Nedbank Ltd from 2011 to 2017.
Prior to this, he held brand and marketing roles at consumer sector companies including SAB Miller, Unilever, Cell C and DIAGEO.
Sydney was Chairman of the Marketing Association of South Africa until December 2022.
Qualifications: AMP (MIT); MBA (GIBS); Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Marketing Management (UNISA); B Social Science (UCT)