Stanbic Bank Zambia has announced the appointment of Leina Gabaraane as the bank’s new Chief Executive, taking over from Charles Mudiwa who has been assigned similar duties in Kenya.
Stanbic Bank Zambia board chairperson Dr Austin Mwape said Mr Gabaraane, a Botswana national, brings with him vast leadership and corporate experience, having served as Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank Botswana over the past nine years. He joined Stanbic Bank Botswana in 2007 as Deputy Managing Director and was later promoted to Managing Director in 2008. Mr Gabaraane will take over effective January 18, 2018.
“We are extremely happy to welcome Mr Gabaraane, who has performed very well in Botswana over the years. Stanbic Bank Zambia has undergone a huge transformation over the past few years, growing from strength to strength to become one of the best banks in the country. Our vision in the medium term is to become one of the most profitable operations of the Standard Bank Group in Africa and we have no doubt that Mr Gabaraane will be equal to the task to steer the bank to greater heights. We look forward to working with Mr Gabaraane,” said Dr Mwape.
Mr Gabaraane joined the Standard Bank Group in 2002 as Principal Business Development Officer (Projects) at Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS), a subsidiary of the Standard Bank Group, and excelled through the ranks to Executive Director at SIMS in 2004.
He started his career at Botswana Development Corporation in 1995 , which he joined as Assistant Operations Officer responsible for business development, project evaluation and monitoring. Mr Gabaraane currently sits on the boards of Stanlib, Liberty Life and the University of Botswana Foundation.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Botswana and a Masters of Business Administration on International Banking and Finance from the University of Birmingham.
Welcome to Zambia, Leina
You mean we dont have qualified zambians to run the zambian branch? The other chap was from zim and this one from gabs?
I want to bring it to your attention that there are a lot of Zambians in similar positions in other countries too. Thats just how the global world operates now!! I for one I am working in Congo, but it doesn’t mean there are no Congolese who cant do what I am doing here!!
So you think anything will change? The banks will still charge you even if the bring in a new fat cat as CEO of Boer Bank!!
Shooterz ,
Avoid xenophobia. There a lot of Zambians in the region and beyond in very high profile positions. Have you ever head of globalization?
Are there who can do this job. I know a lot of CBU graduates with long years of experience in banking who can do this job. Why bring a foreigner?
You think Stanbic Zambia is a pf owned company? Tribalist cadre!
I want to bring it to your attention that there are a lot of Zambians in similar positions in other countries too. Thats just how the global world operates now!! I for one I am working in Congo, but it doesn’t mean there are no Congolese who cant do what I am doing here!!
Synergy comes from having diversity in a team. Bringing together people from different cultural and educational backgrounds often results in higher levels of achievement, as compared to having the same number of people from a similar background and who probably went to the same university, and probably taught by the same lecturer. Their thinking would not be much different from one another.
NASA, in the States, has got people from all over the world working there precisely for that reason. Even Zimbabwean Arthur Mutambara used to work there.
So, Zambians, let us embrace diversity. Even for human beings to multiply you need a man and woman, that’s diversity in itself. In the absence of diversity; two men or two women coming together, they would be no multiplication.
I think a Zambian also heads one of the other branches in these other countries
Spot on, we have Zambians heading banks in other countries, and others serving in different capacities in other countries. Not too long ago, Mizinga Melu was in Tanzania, Mwanakatwe was also out there heading Barclays Bank in West Africa. This is a non-issue really.
Atlas Mara is headed by a Zambian. Stanbic Bank runs across the African continent and is not a Zambian parastal to be headed only by Zambians
A foreign bank appoints a foreign national as CEO and it becomes headline news…really sad..of what importance is this to us, do we have shares in Stanbic?
I’m really imprest and proud that alot of bloggers and votes on this post recognise that for a global business such as banking there is no need to proactively seek a national for a key position such as CEO as beyond competency there a other considerations such building cross natural teams especially across the network of a global organisational like a pan-african bank. Further more that Zambians have beem equay beneficiaries of such strategic approaches.
I agree
Leina is the best man for the job and he deserves this position. This is what bankers do. They deliberately deploy technocrats to unfamiliar territories to energise these establishments and to remove managers from the comfort of familiarity which can lead to lack of attention. The Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, is also after all a Canadian Citizen. Ironically the Bank of Botswana recently rejected Stanchart’s proposal to put a Zambian to head the Botswana operations insisting that all Bank CEO positions in the country should be held by Batswana.