Zimbabwean born mathematician and former Acting Group Chief Executive Officer of ABC Holdings, Dr Blessing Mudavanhu has been appointed as non-executive director for the Development Bank of Southern Africa for a three year term.
By Moses Matenga
Dr Mudavanhu said he was humbled by his appointment announced by Finance Minister Melusi Gigaba and approved by Cabinet.
“It’s both flattering and humbling to be given such an honour by both DSBA and the South African government to contribute to such an influential regional development bank,” Dr Mudavanhu said.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa is an influential finance institution wholly owned by the Government of South Africa that seeks to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development.
In a statement, the DBSA said: “The Directors bring on board the necessary skills and extensive experience in areas of banking, development finance, legal and business. These skills are imperative in driving the strategy of the bank.”
Dr Mudavanhu is a holder of a Ph.D. in Mathematics that he obtained from the University of Washington in the United States in 2002 and has a Masters in Financial engineering from the University of California at Berkeley again in the United States.
He had a stint with the American International Group (AIG) in New York as a Senior Risk Analytics Associate and later was Director in Global Risk Management at Bank of America Merrill Lynch based in New York but covering New York, London, Mexico City and Sao Paulo.
In 2009, he joined African Banking Corporation as Group Chief Risk Officer based in Johannesburg.
Dr Mudavanhu left African Banking Corporation in January 2017 having served as Acting Group Chief Executive Officer since January 2015. Following his departure from African Banking Corporation, he founded Dura Capital, a Risk Advisory and Analytics firm, operating in Johannesburg, Harare and New York.
He has published in many mathematics and financial engineering journals including the Journal of Investment Management.
Dr Mudavanhu is also a visiting senior lecturer at Wits University’s School of Computer Science & Applied Mathematics, as well as a lecturer at its business school. www.zifmnews.com
