S.Africa's Absa seeks new blood after decade under Ramos

Absa Chief Executive Maria Ramos poses for a photograph during a rebranding launch where Barclays Africa changed its name back to Absa on Wednesday, at the Johannesburg stock exchange in Sandton, South Africa. [Photo: Reuters]

JOHANNESBURG- South African lender Absa plans to appoint an external candidate as its new CEO following the sudden departure of its boss of ten years, Maria Ramos, with analysts and investors hoping they will breathe new life into the lagging bank.

Absa’s Tuesday announcement that Ramos, one of global banking’s few female CEOs, would retire at the end of February took some analysts and investors by surprise and sent the bank’s shares up by 4 percent.