Maria Ramos

Ms Ramos was appointed to the Board as a Non-executive Director in 2011 and is a member of the Compensation and Nominations Committees.

She obtained an Institute of Bankers’ Diploma in 1983 and holds degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand (Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Economics) and the University of London (SOAS) (Master of Science in Economics). She also holds honorary doctorates from the University of Stellenbosch and Free State University.

Ms Ramos, until February 2019, served as Chief Executive Officer of Absa Group Limited for a period of ten years. Before joining Absa (previously Barclays Africa Group Limited) as Group Chief Executive in March 2009, Ms Ramos served as the Chief Executive of Transnet Limited. This followed an eight-year tenure as director general of South Africa’s National Treasury (formerly the Department of Finance).

She has also served as a Non-executive and Independent Director on the boards of Sanlam Limited from 2004 to 2009, SABMiller PLC from 2007 to 2009, and Remgro Limited from 2008 to 2009.

Ms Ramos currently serves on the boards of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Public Investment Corporation (‘PIC’) and The Saudi British Bank, since 2019. She is a member of the Group of Thirty and currently co chairs the United Nations Secretary-General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals. She also serves as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University.