Barclays Africa Group and Absa Bank have announced the appointment of Paul O’Flaherty as an independent non-executive director to their respective Boards, effective immediately.

O’Flaherty joins from ArcelorMittal South Africa, where he served as CEO since July 2014.

In December 2015, ArcelorMittal, the largest steel producer in South Africa, announced O’Flaherty’s resignation due to “personal reasons”.

He was previously the Finance Director and Group Executive for Group Capital of Eskom Holdings.

Prior to that, he was in the construction industry in South Africa, Africa and in the Middle East as Deputy CEO of Group Five and Chief Financial Officer of Al Naboodah Construction Group respectively.

Before joining the construction industry he was an audit partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in South Africa.

He has been a Non-Executive Director of Protech Khuthele Holdings and enX Group since February 2014.

He is a member of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Listing Rules Advisory Board and a Member of the Accounting Practices Committee of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.

O’Flaherty holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Group Chairman, Wendy Lucas-Bull, welcomed O’Flaherty’s appointment: “We are very pleased to welcome Paul to the Barclays Africa Group and Absa Bank Boards.”

“With his financial expertise and extensive background in the construction, energy and resources industries, we look forward to his contribution,” she said.