Banks are under pressure from governments and entrepreneurs to play a more active role in supporting investment and industrialisation by directly lending to sectors driving growth and jobs.
Have you noticed how, ahead of every major energy, infrastructure or mining conference, bank CEOs begin to announce their attendance weeks in advance?
For decades, bank CEOs were largely inward-looking, perched in corner offices far from project sites and conference halls. Strategy was discussed on the 17th floor at headquarters.
The health of the bank was measured solely by balance sheets and quarterly profits. The search for new business was delegated to relationship managers and marketing teams in the field.
That era is over. The old model no longer fits the world in which banks now operate.
Go to any industry conference in Lusaka, Cape Town, Nairobi, Lagos, Abidjan or Marrakech, and you will see bank CEOs increasingly present at events once attended almost exclusively by sector specialists.
They may not be engineers, but it is no longer unusual to see CEOs of global and regional banks fluent in the language of megawatts, power grids, oil pipelines and refineries.
Not being logistics experts does not prevent them from participating fully in discussions on new ports, rail links and trade corridors.
Their presence on these high-level panels is not ceremonial. Investors want to hear directly from the person who ultimately decides the cost of capital and, therefore, whether a project is viable.
In capital-intensive sectors, where timelines stretch over decades and risks are complex, reassurance from a senior relationship banker is no longer enough.
But this heightened visibility also reflects the CEOs’ own interests. They want to deepen their understanding of the industries they finance. What does mine exploration really involve? What does it take to develop a power station from scratch? Which forms of digital infrastructure will shape future economies?
These are not academic questions. They are central to placing banks within the industries they serve.
This growing CEO visibility points to a broader change in banking itself.
First, trust has become personal again. Following the financial crises of the early and mid-2000s, which saw major corporations tumbling, followed by years of tightened regulation, confidence in institutions alone is no longer sufficient.
Clients, investors and regulators increasingly look to individuals, to understand what drives them and whether their values align. A CEO’s presence can send a powerful signal that commitments made at conference tables will be honoured back at headquarters.
Second, banks are keen to associate with the national and continental buzz. Energy transition, critical minerals and large-scale, cross-border infrastructure are prominent on Africa’s development agenda. Banks therefore want to align with these trends.
Third, banks are under pressure from governments and entrepreneurs to play a more active role in supporting investment and industrialisation by directly lending to sectors driving growth and jobs. Nowadays, the old banking model of merely taking deposits, charging premium interest for loans and declaring supernormal profits is frowned upon as outdated and even ethically questionable.
While businesses exist to maximise shareholder value, ethical conduct and community awareness are central to sound corporate governance.
Fourth, presence matters. When a bank sponsors and attends a conference, and its CEO meets industry players and participates in closed-door roundtables, it sends a signal to clients and competitors alike: this sector matters to the bank.
Overall, this shift does not diminish the role of marketing teams or frontline bankers. The modern model is collaborative. Marketing shapes the platform, sector teams provide technical depth, and the CEO brings authority and credibility. Together, they create momentum no single function can generate alone.
The era of the bank CEO as a distant figure, satisfied with quarterly profits and other growth metrics, is fading.
In its place stands a more visible, more engaged leader, one who understands that in today’s environment, capital follows confidence, and confidence is built face to face in conference rooms and hotel lobbies.