Sizwe Nxasana

CEO FirstRand Bank

Date of Birth: 07\08\1957

Sizwe Nxasana has just led negotiations for an alliance with China Construction Bank. The two banks have signed a deal which commits FirstRand (the second biggest bank in South Africa) to offer financial and advisory services to Chinese investors in Africa and China Construction Bank (the second biggest in China) to do the same for African companies in China.

Nxasana has been CEO of FirstRand Bank since 2006. He will succeed founder Paul Harris as CEO of FirstRand Ltd., the parent company of FirstRand Bank, when Harris retires on 31 December. Nxasana will then be the first black CEO among the four major South African banking groups.

Nxasana studied commerce at the University of Fort Hare and is a chartered accountant. He was the managing partner of Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, an accountancy group, when asked to become CEO of Telkom, South Africa's largest telecoms operator, in 1998. Nxasana has been on FirstRand's board since 2003. An unapologetic capitalist, he is not as involved in the ruling African National Congress as many other financially-minded people.

Nxasana favours FirstRand's African expansion and the courtship of Asia. Nigeria is a target, as is Kenya. But the bank will close operations in recession-hit Europe: WesBank, a vehicle financing subsidiary, will leave Britain this year. The CCB-FirstRand agreement is more modest than the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's purchase of a 20% stake in Standard Bank in 2007. But the alliance will serve Nxasana's ambitions to develop business around Chinese investment. The Indian market will not be neglected: in May, FirstRand became the first African bank to open an office in India.