Absa Group has appointed Saloshni Pillay as Managing Executive for Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) in South Africa, marking her return to the lender after a stint leading Deutsche Bank’s local operations. Pillay took up the role in mid-July, rejoining a business she had previously helped build earlier in her career.
Pillay joins Absa from Deutsche Bank, where she served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Country Officer for South Africa, alongside her role as Head of the Investment Bank for Sub-Saharan Africa. She brings more than 25 years of experience across global markets and investment banking, spanning both South African and international institutions. Before Deutsche Bank, she spent several years at Absa itself, most recently as Head of Sales and Structuring for Global Markets and as a member of the Investment Bank’s executive committee, giving her institutional knowledge of the business she now leads.
READ – Absa Builds Bench Strength With Another Standard Bank Poach
Her career also includes senior roles at Citigroup, Standard Bank and Crédit Agricole’s corporate and investment banking unit (formerly Calyon), rounding out a CV that spans most of the major players in South African and international corporate banking. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialisation in economics from the University of South Africa, and completed the Leadership for Senior Executives programme at Harvard Business School.
| Career milestone | Detail |
|---|---|
| Years of CIB experience | 25+ |
| Previous role | CEO & Chief Country Officer, Deutsche Bank South Africa |
| Regional role at Deutsche Bank | Head of Investment Banking, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Earlier Absa role | Head of Sales and Structuring, Global Markets |
| Other prior employers | Citigroup, Standard Bank, Crédit Agricole (Calyon) |
| New title at Absa | Managing Executive: CIB South Africa |
| Effective date | Mid-July 2026 |
The appointment is the latest in a series of senior external hires under Absa Group CEO Kenny Fihla, who has moved to stabilise leadership at the bank since taking charge in mid-2026. Fihla has already recruited Zaid Moola from Standard Bank to head Absa’s broader corporate and investment banking unit, brought in Musa Motloung as group strategic risk officer, also from Standard Bank, and hired Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, formerly of M-Pesa Africa, to lead personal and private banking. Absa has also added senior dealmaking talent from Rothschild to bolster its African transaction advisory capability. Absa’s share price has climbed sharply since Fihla’s arrival, comfortably outpacing the broader banking sector over the same period, a run that has coincided with this string of appointments aimed at growing the bank’s footprint across the continent.
READ – Absa Chief Kenny Fihla Takes Helm at Banking Association South Africa
Pillay’s departure from Deutsche Bank has already prompted a leadership change there too. The German lender has named Danelee Masia, a Deutsche Bank economist with more than a decade at the firm covering South African and Sub-Saharan African markets, as its new Chief Country Officer and General Manager for its Johannesburg branch, taking over responsibility for the bank’s corporate banking, investment banking and research operations in the country.
Pillay’s return gives Absa a leader with direct experience competing against the very institutions it is trying to take market share from, in a corporate banking sector still dominated by Standard Bank’s roughly R1.5 trillion asset book, with Rand Merchant Bank, Nedbank and Investec also vying for position. Her appointment is intended to strengthen Absa’s corporate and investment banking franchise in South Africa as the bank pursues what Fihla has described as a renewed push for sustainable growth and deal flow across the region.