Maria Ramos is the Group Chief Executive of Absa Group Ltd. Prior to joining Absa in March 2009, she was the Group Chief Executive of Transnet Ltd, the state-owned freight transport and logistics service provider for five years. This was after a seven-year successful stint as Director-General of the National Treasury.
An accomplished academic, who has taught at various institutions, Ramos obtained an Institute of Bankers’ Diploma (CAIB) in 1983. She followed this with a BCom from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in 1986, a BCom Honours in Economics (also from Wits) in 1987 and an MSc (Economics) from the University of London in 1992.
She is also a recipient of honorary doctorates from the Stellenbosch and Free State universities.
Ramos led Transnet through a massive financial, cultural and operational turnaround. During her tenure as Director-General of the National Treasury (formerly the Department of Finance), Ramos played a key role in transforming the Treasury into one of the most effective and efficient state departments in the post-apartheid administration.
Her contribution has been recognized through numerous awards. These include the Wits Business School’s Management Excellence Award (2010), successive rankings in the global Fortune annual ranking survey (ranked 11th in 2010 and then 7th in 2011 out of a list of 50 most powerful women in business), Sunday Times Business Times Business Leader of the Year (2005), as well as being named Businesswoman of the Year by the SA Businesswomen’s Association in 2001.
She has in the past served as a non-executive and independent director on the boards of Sanlam Ltd, Remgro Ltd and SABMiller PLC, and currently serves on the executive committee of the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council. Ramos is a member of the Chief Economist Advisory Council of the World Bank, Business Leadership of SA, Institute of International Finance, International Monetary Forum as well as the Banking Association of SA. She is also a member of the Barclays PLC Executive Committee.
In April 2011, Ramos was given the additional task of geographical responsibility of executing Barclay’s Africa strategy. The strategy (the One Bank in Africa strategy), seeks to take advantage of the growth prospects in the continent. In this role, she will be in charge of the Group’s 13 African operations which serve some 15million customers across the continent via 16 000 outlets.
Earlier this year (2011) she was invited – and has accepted – to serve as a non-executive and independent director of the Board of Richemont, the luxury products group.
