Daniel Mminele (born 1965) was the chief executive officer (CEO) of

Absa Group Limited Absa Group Limited (ABGL; formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited), and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a South African-based financial services group, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and invest ...

, a financial services conglomerate, with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, and subsidiaries in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. Prior to joining Absa Group as CEO in January 2020, Mminele spent more than 20 years at the

South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...

(SARB), where he rose through the ranks to be a Deputy Governor and a member of key committees such as the Monetary Policy Committee and Financial Stability Committee. He retired from the SARB in June 2019, after his second consecutive five-year term as Deputy Governor came to an end.

Background and education

Mminele was born in Phalaborwa,

Mopani District Municipality Mopani is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat of Mopani is Giyani. According to the 2016 Community Survey it has a population of 1,159,185. The district code is DC33. After the 12th amendment of the Constitution of ...

Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while th ...

, South Africa, in 1965. He went to school in Germany, and was trained as a banker at Sparkasse Paderborn, in association with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of East-Westphalia (Bielefeld), obtaining his banking qualification in 1987. He also later obtained various associate certificates from the

Chartered Institute of Bankers The London Institute of Banking & Finance is the oldest training and professional body for banking and financial services in England and Wales, and works internationally with partners to establish ethical and professional standards across the ...

of the United Kingdom, attending classes for these at City of London Polytechnic (later Guildhall University).

Career

Mminele spent eight years (1987 to 1995) in various roles at the

Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale WestLB AG (derived from ''Westdeutsche Landesbank'', i.e. "Western German state Bank") was a European commercial bank based in Düsseldorf, Germany which was mainly owned by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Landesbanks are a group of par ...

, at its offices in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He returned to South Africa in 1995, then spent about two years at

Commerzbank Commerzbank AG () is a major German bank operating as a universal bank, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. In the 2019 financial year, the bank was the second largest in Germany by the total value of its balance sheet. Founded in 1870 in Hambur ...

, working as a customer relations manager in corporate banking, and about equal time at African Merchant Bank, as a project and structured finance specialist, based in Johannesburg. In 1999, he joined the South African Reserve Bank. In 2009, he was appointed as deputy governor responsible for financial markets and international economic relations. Mminele served as chief executive officer of Absa Group from 15 January 2020 until 20 April 2021 being the first person of African descent to serve in at role.

Honors and awards

While at the SARB, he was a member of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy and financial stability committee. With his appointment as CEO at Absa, Mminele is the first Black African to serve in that role. In 2018, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier bestowed the Great Order of Merit to Mminele for his work in promoting German-South African relations. The Great Order of Merit is the highest honour Germany can pay to an individual for services to the country. In 2019 he was awarded the Lifetime Achiever Award by the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals (ABSIP)

Personal life

References

External links