Barclays- bound Moleta quits BotswanaPost
Pauline Dikuelo | Friday March 6, 2015 13:15
“ On behalf of the board of directors, I hereby confirm the receipt of the resignation of Botswana Post CEO, Pele Moleta. “At this stage there is no detail to share as the matter is with the appointing Authority, Minister of Transport and Communications,” read the statement. Market sources, however, say that Moleta is on his way to join Barclays Bank of Botswana as chief operations officer, a position they say has been offered to him to understudy Reinette van der Merwe and eventually take over as managing director of the bank.
According to industry sources, Moleta was headhunted by the Bank’s board in a quest to localise the post, which was delocalised two years ago when South African citizen, van der Merwe, took over the reins at the bank. Barclays appointed van der Merwe in September 2013 on a three-year contract, becoming the only bank among the top four to be headed by an expatriate. Contacted for comment on Wednesday, Barclays chairman Rizwan Desai declined to reveal any details, but said the bank, through the public relations department, will make a statement in due course on senior leadership appointments. Moleta has previous experience in the financial services sector having worked for First National Bank (FNBB) and Old Mutual.
Before joining BotswanaPost in 2008, Moleta had worked for First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) for a total of 11 years in two stints between 1998 and 2008. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Economics from the University of Botswana, among other qualifications.
When he assumes the top seat at Barclays, Moleta will have to continue the turnaround strategy implemented by van der Merwe as she sought to change the bank’s fortunes, which have been dwindling for the past three years.
The bank will soon announce its results for the year ended December 2014.
In its interims for last year, Barclays’ profits tumbled for the third reporting period in a row, with management attributing the poor performance to the current low interest rates.