“This is very serious business,” the governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) pronounces as he strides, smiling, into a boardroom full of aides tapping away diligently on their phones.
Despite Lesetja Kganyago’s affable demeanour, the job of steadying South Africa’s economy since he took the helm of the central bank in 2014 has been a serious business. Since then he has had to navigate the tail end of the global financial crisis, the commodities crash, and the blood sport of South African politics during the twilight years of Jacob Zuma’s scandal-ridden presidency.
