Her role is considered critical in support of the bank’s aspirations, as set out in its audacious Excelerate25 strategy.
African Bank has championed a next-level transformation philosophy, one which seeks to transcend scorecards and make a meaningful difference. It is a philosophy that lies at the heart of African Bank’s vision of “A bank for the people, by the people, serving the people”.
“Across our institution, we see transformation as an important opportunity to ask how we can start to meaningfully contribute to our economy and what opportunities we can offer that will change people’s lives,” says African Bank chief executive officer, Kennedy G Bungane.
Montse joined African Bank in September 2021, assuming the role of chief of staff and head of transformation and sustainability.
She manages and leads an extensive portfolio that comprises transformation, sustainability, ethics, BBBEE, stakeholder management, enterprise, and supplier development, environmental sustainability, consumer education and corporate social responsibility.
She is passionate about the need for transformation and is keen for it to evolve beyond mere tick-box exercises.
Her role also includes supporting and enabling the execution of the Excelerate25 strategy and leading the African Bank enterprise project-management office.
During her tenure thus far, the bank has achieved a Level 1 B-BBEE rating by implementing strategic initiatives that espouse the audacious hearts of African Bankers and deepen the Bank’s commitment to advancing lives.
Before joining African Bank, Montse held a number of senior roles including as head: diversity, inclusion and transformation (DIT) at Absa Africa retail and business banking, where she was responsible for developing the overall DIT strategy for retail and business banking, comprising 19,000 employees.
Prior to this, she was the transformation, diversity, and inclusion lead at Accenture SA, reporting to the chief executive officer and was also the strategic advisor to the Accenture SA board on matters relating to transformation, diversity, and inclusion.
Earlier in her career, she was the sustainability manager for procurement at South African Breweries.
Montse holds a Bachelor of Technology (B Tech) (Hons) from the Tshwane University of Technology, in addition to a certificate in the role of public policy in private-sector development from the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice.
She has also served on the board of the Association of B-BBEE Professionals (ABP).
