The stance of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) on the appointment of joint CEOs at Investec (one black, one white) is at once predictable and surprising — predictable that it has taken the two appointments as a case of white CEO nannying black CEO until he is ready. While this may be understandable — given the case of Sim Tshabalala and Ben Kruger at Standard Bank, with Tshabalala eventually named group CEO in 2018 – it is probably misguided in Investec’s case. Since it established a dual listing in 2002, Investec has had two centres of power: SA under CEO Stephen Koseff and London under MD Bernard Kantor. This tradition, it seems, will continue under Hendrik du Toit, who will oversee Investec’s considerable international businesses, with a continued focus on asset management, while Fani Titi will hold the fort in SA and have oversight of the specialist banking operations, arguably the harder job. The decision to make a non-executive a joint CEO surely shows considerable rega...

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