Goldman Sachs sub-Saharan Africa has announced that its chief executive, Colin Coleman, is set to step down from the firm at the end of the year. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Goldman Sachs sub-Saharan Africa has announced that its chief executive, Colin Coleman, is set to step down from the firm at the end of the year. Coleman is set to join Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs as a senior fellow and lecturer in January.
He has been at the helm of the international banking firm for just over a year having joined in 2000. In 2002 he became managing director and partner in 2010.
At Yale, Coleman will teach a graduate-level course on “Africa: Doing Business in the Last Frontier of Global Growth” in the spring 2020 semester. He will split his time between the United States and South Africa.
“My succesor will most likely be announced by the end of the year,” Coleman told the Mail & Guardian on Tuesday.
He leaves at a time when Goldman Sachs is expanding its presence in South Africa with an application for a new banking license, which Coleman earlier this year said would help the firm offer more services to its customer base in the country.
“A banking license will allow us to become a primary dealer and trade with local corporates, as well as provide services in currencies, interest rates and derivatives,” Coleman said in a statement.
To prepare for the new bank, Bloomberg reported earlier this year that Goldman Sachs has invested a significant amount of capital to become a primary dealer and to trade on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Coleman told the M&G on Tuesday that the firm banking licence application is “progressing positively.” and that he hopes to have it approved by the Reserve Bank soon.
The expansion also comes as President Cyril Ramaphosa hopes to reignite Africa’s most industrialised economy by hosting the country’s second investment conference in Johannesburg this week. This is in a bid to restore investor confidence and prevent further job losses.
Ramaphosa’s ambitious plan to revive the economy and to attract R1.2-trillion in domestic and international investment was unveiled last year as part of the president’s economic stimulus package and recovery plan.
The first conference attracted over R300-million in local and international investment in various sectors in mining, forestry, manufacturing, telecommunications, transport, energy and other sectors, according to the presidency.
“This year’s conference will highlight the positive steps government is making to improve the investment environment and the progress made on last year’s investment commitments. It will also serve as a platform for government to engage with the local and international investment community in order to promote the investment opportunities in the country and explore new markets,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.