President holds high-level talks with top Absa officials |02 August 2023

The Absa delegation in a souvenir photo with President Ramkalawan (3rd from right). Mr Moloko is 3rd from left. The other members of the delegation are Messrs Rautenbach and Houareau (1st and 2nd left respectively) and Messrs Mahmood and Chibiya (1st and

Sustainability, financial inclusion and the role of Absa Group Limited in the development of human capacity and the development of infrastructure in the country were the topic of discussion between President Wavel Ramkalawan and the Absa Group Limited chairman, Sello Moloko, yesterday afternoon at State House.

Mr Moloko along with the Absa Group Limited chief executive, Arrie Rautenbach and the chief executive for Absa Rest of Africa, Saviour Chibiya paid a courtesy call to the president. They were accompanied by the managing director of Absa Bank Seychelles, Nazim Mahmood and the board’s chairman, Marc Houareau. 

Speaking to the press after the meeting, the new chairman, Mr Moloko, said that they are on a two-day working visit to get to know the country better, in terms of its economic growth ambition, to see what role they could play to become a part of this growth.

It is the first time that such a high-level delegation from the Absa Group Limited visits the country.

“So the engagement with the President was really around the plans of the country and how we as a financial institution can play a role in ensuring that the country achieves its objectives. It was also to indicate our commitment to the Seychelles as a country. We, at Absa, are here for the long term and we obviously would like to see the economy that grows and in the process we grow with the economy,” said Mr Moloko.

He also noted that apart from the need to address the development of human capital around skills in the banking space, they are very satisfied with the operations of Absa Bank Seychelles.

He stated that since taking over the chairmanship on April 1, 2023, he has been on a familiarisation visit around various countries on the African continent to get to understand the Absa franchises and markets. He said Seychelles was the last one on his list.

Following their courtesy call on President Ramkalawan, the high-level delegation from the Absa Group Limited had the opportunity to interact with a number of Absa customers and important stakeholders, including ministers, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of the Central Bank of Seychelles, in a networking event hosted by Absa Bank Seychelles at the Eden Bleu Hotel, Eden Island, yesterday evening.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Moloko, who described Absa as a storybook for empowering the future generation, said that in addition to Absa Seychelles’ 60 plus years in the country, “we see a future for us  to remain for another 60 years in this market. We see a lot of opportunity and that opportunity does not sit out there in the roads. It sits in the people that we have met and the key thing that will drive the economy is its citizens.”

Mr Moloko thanked the customers for their loyalty placed in Absa and noted that the financial institution is committed to participating and to forming part in the development of Seychelles’ capacity to improve economic growth.

For his part, Mr Rautenbach said that with Absa being a Pan-African business, the finalised beneficial strategy, as part of the ambition, is to place clients and colleagues at the centre of its activities and to foster a deep sense of community involvement and long-term relationships and partnerships, going forward for many years and decades to come.

Text & photos by Patrick Joubert