Alpesh Patel has been appointed as ABSA Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Africa. The role includes all ABSA and Barclays Africa Technology functions.
Alpesh joins as Managing Director and will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Alpesh will report to Alfie Naidoo, ABSA Chief Operating Officer (COO) for his Absa IT responsibilities.
“This appointment marks the significant emphasis that we are placing on advancing our One Bank in Africa strategy and the important role of technology in the execution of our goals for the African businesses,” said Philip Freeborn, ABSA Chief Operating and Integration Officer for Africa.
“Africa is a core strategic focus for Barclays, as we look to implement a full geographical and product structure for the continent. The appointment of Alpesh as our Senior Executive responsible for technology will ensure that we integrate and leverage our technology platforms throughout Africa, to the benefit of our customers, clients, and colleagues. His key focus is to build an Africa-centric Technology organisation to underpin the One Bank in Africa strategy,” said Freeborn.
Alpesh joins with extensive experience managing large, multi-million dollar technology programmes. He has a breadth of experience in strategy, stakeholder partnership, financial and operational leadership that will lay a solid foundation for the integration of the Absa and Barclays Africa operations.
Prior to his new role as CIO for Africa, Alpesh was Head of Equities Technology, Asia Pacific, Barclays Capital since 2009. Before joining Barclays, Alpesh held a number of senior technology roles in financial services, across multiple geographies including Asia, Western Europe, and North America.
“We are transforming the way we do business across Africa in order to execute against our ambitious growth strategy and market potential. As CIO for Africa, I’m confident that Alpesh will play a key role in progressing the technology agenda, aligned to our goal to be One Bank in Africa,” said Freeborn.
Staff Writer
About time. Staff members have been anxiously awaiting the change in IT leadership for a while now. Congratulations to the new CIO.
Congratulations Alpesh – I know that you will be up for the challenge and wish you every success.