Standard Bank Group Market value :: US $ 16.979bn Revenue 2022 : US $ 9.24bn

Credit : US Embassy South Africa

The man behind Africa ’ s ‘ best bank ’, Sim Tshabalala has helmed Africa ’ s largest bank in terms of assets since 2017 – at age 45 becoming one of very few Black CEOs to lead an African bank . Considered the market leader in South African banking and with a physical presence in 20 countries , the 161-year-old Standard Bank delivered headline earnings of US $ 1.85 billion in 2022 , up 37 % on the year before .

Describing himself simply as “ just a Zulu boy from Soweto ”, Tshabalala has worked his way up from the country ’ s largest Black township to lead one of Africa ’ s largest financial institutions . He initially trained as a lawyer and was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa before deciding to switch to banking – and has since spent more than two decades in the financial services industry .

Tshabalala has risen rapidly through the ranks at Standard Bank , a Global 500 firm , starting out in structured finance in the corporate and merchant banking division in 2000 before taking the top job in the Africa division – where , in just four short years he grew the division from 21.4 % to 28.3 %, thanks largely to a clutch of strategic acquisitions in the retail sphere .

Last year , Tshabalala was appointed as an Honorary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch Business School ( USB ).

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