Absa Bank Ghana MD chairs GSE Council

Absa Bank Ghana MD, Mrs. Abena Osei-Poku, has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) Council, effective October 14, 2021.

Announcing the new changes, the GSE, highlighted that Mrs Abena is the second female in twenty-six years to become the chairperson after Mrs. Gloria Nikoi of blessed memory.

She was selected due to her competence and experience and expected to take over from Mr. Ray Anselm Sowah, whose tenure ended at the last Annual general meeting held on 28th July,2021.

The GSE described her as “a systematically important player in the Ghanaian economy”.

Abena is credited with leading the successful Barclays transition from a “100-year-old household brand” into Absa.

She is responsible for charting a transformational direction for the bank and for entrenching the new brand amongst key clients, customers, and all stakeholders.

Prior to this, she worked at Absa Group in South Africa as Managing Director responsible for the Corporate & Investment Banking business in East and West Africa.

As a high-ambition leader, Abena combines effective commitment to high financial performance and social good.

She has over 27-years pan-African experience from Standard Chartered and Barclays Bank with various leadership roles in risk management, corporate governance, business management, strategy, client coverage and change management.

She has broad board experience having previously sat on boards in telecommunications, banking, commerce, and hospitality. She is currently the Chairperson of the Advisory Board of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana.

In addition, she sits on other executive fora and is an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana.

Abena is an alumnus of University of Ghana Legon and has an MBA from the Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom. She has participated in various leadership and other programs worldwide.

She is fluent in English with a working knowledge of French.