A leadership change at one of Mozambique's largest banks took effect on Wednesday, 23 September. Standard Bank has not indicated the reason for the departure of Bernardo Aparício, who had held the position since April 2022.
The board of directors of Standard Bank Mozambique resolved to terminate Bernardo Aparício's functions as chief executive officer, with effect from 23 September 2026. Agnaldo Mavera, until now executive director and chief financial and value management officer, has been designated to exercise interim leadership of the bank until a new permanent appointment is made. No reason for the departure was given in the information published by the institution.
The decision brings to an end more than four years of Aparício's leadership and transfers day-to-day management to an executive who is already part of the board and is closely familiar with the institution's financial structure. Standard Bank has assured stakeholders that its governance remains fully functional and that client services continue to be delivered normally.
A tenure defined by restoring confidence
Bernardo Aparício took the helm of Standard Bank Mozambique in April 2022 at a sensitive moment in the life of one of the country's largest financial institutions. The bank had previously been sanctioned and suspended from the interbank foreign exchange market by the Bank of Mozambique following serious prudential and foreign exchange violations attributed to the previous management. Those violations led to a fine of approximately 290.1 million meticais (equivalent to around US$4.6 million at the exchange rate at the time) and the forced removal of the then chief executive, Adimohanma Chukwuma Nwokocha. The central bank subsequently placed a resident inspector at the institution in July 2021 to oversee the implementation of a shareholder action plan and to monitor developments in the bank's governance and internal control mechanisms.
During Aparício's tenure, the bank adopted corrective measures and was readmitted to the foreign exchange market in 2023. The resident inspection concluded in February 2025. In withdrawing the inspector, the Bank of Mozambique cited 'significant progress' in Standard Bank's risk culture, governance, and internal controls. The institution is now subject to the standard supervisory framework applicable to other banks.
On the financial side, the trajectory was less straightforward. Standard Bank closed 2025 with a standalone net profit of 4.53 billion meticais, down from 6.13 billion meticais recorded in 2024 — a decline of approximately 26%. Total standalone assets, however, increased from 178.36 billion to 193.88 billion meticais, according to the institution's annual report. These figures mean that earnings performance and risk management will rank among the key priorities for the incoming leadership.
Prior to joining Standard Bank, Aparício held senior leadership roles at Barclays Bank, Absa Bank Mozambique, and the Absa Group, including responsibilities in investment banking for Southern and Eastern Africa. In its statement on his departure, the bank expressed gratitude for his contribution and wished him success in future endeavours.
Who is Agnaldo Mavera, the executive now leading Standard Bank?
Agnaldo Francisco Mavera assumes the interim leadership of Standard Bank Mozambique after a career built primarily in finance and banking management. A Mozambican national with 18 years of experience in the sector, according to the biography published by the institution, he served most recently as the bank's executive director and chief financial and value management officer.
Mavera began his career at BCI in accounting functions and subsequently moved to FNB Mozambique. He spent approximately nine years in Standard Bank's finance division before taking on other challenges, including the role of chief financial officer at BancABC Mozambique. That career path provided him with experience across financial control, banking management, risk, and treasury.
He later returned to the Standard Bank group to lead Standard Pensões, the group's pension fund management company. In that role, he oversaw the commercial launch of the fund manager, built out its team, and developed a business that remains relatively new in the Mozambican market. In an interview published by Economia & Mercado in the Diário Económico in 2023, Mavera identified limited public awareness of pension funds as one of the principal obstacles to the sector's growth.
He holds a degree in Business Management from Universidade Eduardo Mondlane and a qualification in Accounting from the Instituto Comercial de Maputo. He also serves as a non-executive director of the group's pension fund management company.
The appointment of Mavera places at the head of current management an executive who already participates in the bank's decision-making and has direct oversight of its accounts. The transition from chief financial officer to interim chief executive, however, significantly broadens the scope of his responsibilities: he will be required to ensure continuity of operations and coordinate the remaining executive divisions while the board of directors selects a permanent successor to Bernardo Aparício. Standard Bank has not announced a timeline for that decision.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/23/economia/banca/bernardo-aparicio-deixa-lideranca-do-standard-bank-agnaldo-mavera-assume-interinamente/
