Chief Executive Officer Designate
Leslie has a distinguished career that spans both public and private sectors, culminating most recently with nine years as South Africa’s Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank (NDB), the BRICS development bank which now has eight country shareholders.
He was one of the founding leadership team of NDB and played a key role in its set-up and growth. As CFO, he led the capital markets activities of the institution, and was responsible for the bank’s liquid asset portfolio and managing NDB’s credit rating. He was also a member of the bank’s Investment Committees and was active in many of the bank’s larger project investment structurings and approvals.
His career began in the trade union movement during apartheid-era South Africa, and he played a central role in restructuring and privatising state-owned enterprises post the democratic elections, including preparing Telkom for its listing on the JSE and NYSE. In the early years of South Africa’s democratic era, he held key roles in the Government of South Africa, including Special Advisor to the Minister of Labour and Deputy Director General of the Department of Public Enterprises.
Over the last 20 years, Leslie has held senior positions at top-tier international financial institutions. Notably, he was the first African appointed as an International Adviser to Goldman Sachs International. He has also served as a Vice-Chairman of Barclays Capital and Absa Capital, and as Managing Director and President of Bank of America Merrill Lynch for Southern Africa.
Leslie holds a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of the Western Cape and a MSc in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
