For the fifth consecutive year, Absa has been recognised as a Top Employer for 2026 by the Top Employers Institute (TEI), following an independent assessment of its people practices across Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, and Mauritius, with Absa Ghana further achieving the number one Top Employer ranking in its market.
Absa achieved an overall group score of 93.66%, an increase from 90.15% in 2025 and materially above the global benchmark of 85.9%. All markets recorded overall scores above 87%, with Absa Bank Botswana delivering the largest year-on-year improvement of 5.53 percentage points.
Ghana recorded the highest overall score at 97.38%, while notable improvements were also recorded in Kenya and South Africa, each improving by 4.94 percentage points. Absa Bank Zambia improved by more than 4 percentage points, showcasing Absa’s relentless focus on people-focused policies and processes.
Achieving the certification across all six markets underscores the effectiveness of Absa’s approach to human capital management within the financial services sector in Africa, as assessed against international standards.
“The way people think about work is fundamentally changing, and this shift is redefining the relationship between employers and employees. Organisations must be clear and deliberate about the value they offer, ranging from purpose and culture to growth and flexibility, while being equally transparent about the standards, accountability and performance they expect in return. This clarity is essential to building trust, attracting top talent and creating workplaces where people can truly thrive,” said Jeanett Modise, Absa Group Chief Human Capital Officer.
“We have focused on sharpening how we define and communicate the Absa employee value proposition, so that it reflects the realities of how people want to work and build their careers. Being recognised as a Top Employer for the fifth consecutive year provides independent validation that this approach is resonating with our people and being applied consistently across our markets.”
Charles Russon, Group Executive for Africa Regions, said, “The continued growth in the number of Absa markets achieving Top Employer certification is a powerful endorsement of our people-first strategy and our commitment to building workplaces where excellence, inclusion and high performance can thrive. We are particularly proud of Absa Ghana’s achievement as the number one Top Employer in its market, which reflects the depth of our leadership capability, the strength of our culture and our deliberate investment in our people across the region to deliver for our clients.”
William Easmon, Human Capital Director for Absa Bank Ghana, highlighted the significance of the recognition: “Being Ghana’s number one Top Employer reflects the trust, fairness, and clarity our people experience at work every day. We remain committed to upholding these values, ensuring that they feel valued and respected in a transparent and equitable workplace. By strengthening our culture of openness and integrity, we will continue raising the employee experience standard in Ghana.”
A notable outcome of the assessment was Absa’s achievement of full scores of 100% in Business Strategy, Leadership, and Performance, demonstrating a high degree of consistency in how strategy is translated into leadership practice and organisational performance.
Strong results were also recorded in Ethics and Integrity, with Absa achieving a score of 99.49%, outperforming the global benchmark by 1.45% and the industry benchmark by nearly 2%. The Work Environment score rose to 98.41%, positioning Absa more than 10% above the global benchmark and almost 8% above the industry benchmark.
The largest year-on-year gains were recorded in offboarding (+18%), diversity, equity and inclusion (+11.34%), rewards and recognition (+8.78%), sustainability (+7.35%), and employer branding (+5.28%).
TEI is a global authority on recognising excellence in Human Capital practices. Through their globally recognised Certification Programme, using data-driven insights, they enable companies to advance their talent attraction, development, engagement, and retention strategies.
The progress seen in this year’s assessment has been underpinned by a more deliberate and data-led approach to understanding the employee experience. Absa continues to strengthen how it listens to its people, introducing more robust benchmarking and analytics that provide deeper insight into trust and engagement across the organisation. This has enabled more focused intervention where it matters most, supporting improvements across the employee lifecycle and reinforcing a culture of openness and accountability.
Alongside this, the Group has sharpened how it defines and delivers its employee value proposition, with a clear emphasis on sustaining a high-performance culture while prioritising wellbeing.
Ongoing investment in leadership development, supported by refreshed frameworks and coaching approaches, has reinforced consistency in how strategy is led and delivered. At the same time, the Group has advanced its work on inclusion, skills development, and data-driven retention, ensuring that critical capabilities are built and sustained over time. Together, these actions have supported the broad-based improvements recorded across markets and underpinned the Group’s overall performance in the assessment.
“Being recognised for the fifth consecutive year gives us a clear line of sight into how our culture and people practices have evolved over time. Aligning to our group strategy, we continue to strive to be customer obsessed, equipping our employees to deliver excellence for our customers. Over this period, we have been deliberate about strengthening our employee value proposition, focusing on the quality of work people do, how they are led, how they learn and grow, and how we support their wellbeing,” said Modise.
“That foundation is shaping the kind of workplace we are building for the future, one that is fit for a changing world of work and able to attract and develop the talent our organisation depends on, the talent that enshrines our purpose of empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together, one story at a time.”
For further information about Absa Group Limited, visit www.absa.africa
Absa media queries to:
Tsietsi Mahlasela
Senior Public Relations Manager
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Edelman Africa
Terushka Heuvel
Group Account Director: Corporate Practice
