Louise van der Bank is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of AfriSam, a leading supplier of superior construction materials and technical solutions in Southern Africa.
She is one of the first CIOs to receive the Professional CIO (Pr.CIO) designation, awarded at the highest level to South African ICT professionals who meet the required levels of academic accomplishment and professional experience.
As CIO, Louise is accountable to ensure the organisation gets the most value from IT, and to create business differentiation and competitive advantage through the effective leveraging of information & technology enablers and digital solutions. As an executive team member, she is a key strategic partner in the decision-making process, the formulation of strategy, the quest to spur innovation, and the overall management of the organisation.
Her priorities include digital innovation and information driven business transformation to grow revenue as well as exploiting IT to increase organisational efficiencies and streamline business models across all departments. She has worked across several industry sectors and has delivered major business change programs and significant operational improvements.
Prior to taking up her current role, Louise served as CIO at the South African Post Office, where she and her team successfully delivered Group-wide ICT solutions and infrastructure programs. As the Director, SAP Core Banking for Standard Bank South Africa she worked closely with the business to refocus the bank towards a customer centric strategy, enabled by Information Technology. She began her career as a programmer at Iscor (now ArcelorMittal) growing through the ranks to becoming Group General Manager, Information Management.
Her depth of experience is further enriched with a sound academic background. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Computer Science as major and a Higher Education Diploma. She has completed various leadership programs including The Executive Program from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia (USA).
