PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed former South African Reserve Bank (SARB) deputy governor Daniel Mminele to head a newly established Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, which will lead South Africa’s efforts to mobilise concessional climate finance for its just energy transition.
The Presidency said the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team would, together with the Asset and Liability Division of the National Treasury, analyse the offer made with a view to advising Cabinet on its composition, affordability and alignment with the country’s regulatory environment.
The appointment follows an $8.5-billion offer made at COP26 by France, Germany, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union, to support South Africa’s just transition to a low-carbon economy, with a specific focus on the electricity, electric vehicle and green hydrogen sectors.
Mminele, who has since January 2022 been an independent nonexecutive director and chair-designate at Alexander Forbes Group Holdings, served as CEO of Absa Group until April 30, 2021.
Prior to joining Absa in January 2020, he was a deputy governor of the SARB, where he served two five-year terms from 2009.
“During a career spanning nearly 20 years at the South African Reserve Bank, Mr Mminele represented the SARB and South Africa in many international fora on the African continent and beyond.”
“His experience before the SARB included credit-risk analysis, corporate banking, and project and structured finance at private banking institutions in Germany, the UK and South Africa,” the Presidency said in a statement.
Mminele was also the recipient of the 2019 Life Time Achiever Award of the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals.
- * Inside Politics
