BANKABLE TALENT
CEO of African Bank BASANI MALULEKE, 41, reflects on her climb to the top of the banking chain and the many lessons she’s learnt along the way
The colourful African-inspired decor at the African Bank head office in Midrand conjures up questions over what their first female CEO, Basani Maluleke, is like in character – vibrant or stern, befitting the seriousness of her position?
Clad in a gorgeous Kente skirt, she’s an infectious ball of energy with a personality that reflects the tenacity that has seen her take an interesting route to where she is today. She qualified as an accountant, practiced law and worked in investment banking and corporate finance.
With 13 years experience in the financial industry, Basani finds herself where she is happiest – running a bank with lots of potential and much to look forward to. “I grew up in Soshanguve (Tshwane) during a volatile political climate. There was tear gas in the street and all those things formed my view of who I needed to be in the world for those incidents to never happen again. My father was an attorney and because of the times we lived in, many attorneys practised human rights law. Growing up in a household where it was so important for my father to play a critical role in changing the country was awesome,” she says.
Although she had the ambition of changing the world through law, Basani went the accounting route first. “I did quite well in school and was offered a bursary by KPMG to study accounting at UCT. I didn’t really want to study accounting but my father forced me because of the bursary. I wanted to do law because my dad was a lawyer, and Mandela was a lawyer, so who wouldn’t want to do law? I studied accounting and did vacation work, but I knew it wasn’t for me. So, in my final year I told my dad, ‘listen, I don’t like accounting but I’ll finish and next year I’ll study law’. He agreed and I had a fabulous time in the next three years,” Basani explains.
After graduating, she did her articles and learnt that maybe law wasn’t for her after all. “Practising law was nothing like I imagined. It was horrible. I was very surprised by the gender discrimination in the litigation profession, especially amongst the advocates. It was unbelievable to witness how unkind, cruel, dismissive those men were. I finished my articles, became an attorney and knew this wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life so I went to Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) in 2005 to do corporate finance,” Basani says.
Her tide suddenly changed as she was now in a space where she thrived. The best years of her career were spent at RMB. “RMB was amazing; the issues around gender and race weren’t as pronounced, the company had a very strong meritocracy. Everybody revered brilliance. For me, I had to learn everything finance because I didn’t study it in varsity. I had so much support, even though there were times where I found it daunting. I won awards while at RMB for the deals I was making. I really felt great and I was doing well.”
Knowing she didn’t want to be an investment banker for the rest of her life, Basani went to Illinois, USA, to do her MBA for two years at the Kellogg School of Management in 2009. “Getting into a top 10 business school is hard and everyone there is smart, it’s intimidating. I felt isolated and alone. But it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I found myself, and reminded myself of what I wanted to do with my life. I realised then, that I wanted to be CEO of a big business. I wanted to lead an organisation and I knew I had to take steps to make it happen.”
Joining FNB Finance as head of private clients was her way of carving a path to being a leader of a big organisation. But, it was a steep learning curve. “I was at FNB for two years and it wasn’t at all what I wanted. I had a very tough time and when I left, I felt incompetent. It was a dark place to be. I lost my self-esteem but my family didn’t let me wallow in my misery.
Instead, they helped me through that rough patch,” she says.
Basani comes from a very close-knit family and had a strong bond with her father. “My family is my clique. I lost my father last year and I’m now trying out different things, in a way, to replace that which is gone. I listen to music in the morning [as a way of working through my emotions],” a teary-eyed Basani admits.
And now, she has found her happy place after starting in her dream role as CEO of African Bank in April this year. “Running a bank that has so much potential is the biggest highlight of my career. When I took on this role, I knew where the bank was and that we could take it further. We serve people who are under-serviced and serving people is one of my biggest goals. That’s the bigger purpose.”
She has learnt a few valuable lessons along the way. “There’ll be tears, failures and disappointments but resilience and sheer grit will get you through. I had to learn how to bring people along for the journey, and to invest in authentic relationships. You can’t have assistance, if you don’t build trust, especially now as CEO. I don’t know everything but I’ve learnt to ask. We all need help, you can’t get to the top alone.”
She’s built great relationships and has the luxury of calling up big names in the game for advice because she has cemented herself as a force in the finance sector. “The fact that I can call [Former FirstRand Group Chairman] Sizwe Nxasana or [Former FirstRand CEO] Paul Harris at any time and tell them that I need help is amazing,” she enthuses. Would she have done anything differently? It’s a no, but she does have advice for her younger self. “I would’ve told my younger self not to give up. You’re going to come across things that seem completely insurmountable and you’re going to have deep disappointments. Everybody has scars from life but those scars are what mould you into who you are,” Basani concludes.