Maria Ramos

Maria Ramos is the Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Africa Group Limited. Prior to joining Absa as Group Chief Executive in March 2009, she was the Group Chief Executive of Transnet Ltd. This was after successfully serving as Director-General of the National Treasury.

Ramos was born in Portugal, the oldest of three children. Her parents emigrated to Mozambique and then South Africa with their children in the mid 60s in search of better opportunities. Ramos was just six when her family began their new life in Vereeniging. Ramos matriculated in 1977 and went to work for Barclays in Vereeniging as a waste clerk, which involved collecting paperwork such as deposit slips and cheques, from behind the tellers and manually processing them.

In the search for a scholarship, Ramos discovered that her bank had a scholarship scheme where they supported employees to complete a university commerce degree. Upon applying, she discovered that it was only open to men. A long battle ensued, with Ramos surmounting various obstacles in her attempt to get the rules changed; eventually she was told that if she sat the basic exams and passed, they would consider her. She drove from Vereeniging to Johannesburg three nights a week after work to evening classes held by the Institute of Bankers, and passed the exam in record time, earning herself a Banker’s Diploma.

An accomplished academic, who has taught at various institutions, Ramos obtained an Institute of Bankers’ Diploma (CAIB) in 1983. She followed this with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in 1986, a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Economics (also from Wits) in 1987 and a Master of Science (Economics) from the University of London in 1992.

Maria Ramos is the Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Africa Group Limited. Ramos has responsibility for executing the Group’s Africa strategy across 13 African operations, serving some 12 million customers through 11,910 outlets.

Prior to joining Absa as Group Chief Executive 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 successfully serving as Director-General of the National Treasury for seven years.

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