David Wells: Gearing international expertise to tap into Africa

The current Head of Private Bank, East Africa at AfrAsia Bank Ltd ambitions the leading bank to be an active player in promoting Mauritius as an international financial centre.

David Wells has always worked in the banking sector. When he started his career, in the nineties, the banking industry was undergoing major transformations. “I suppose I benefitted from the seismic changes we saw in the industry in the early nineties, when ‘old fashioned’ transactional type banking moved much more towards the relationship based sector we see today. This is certainly true of the areas I have worked in, culminating in Private Banking,” declares the current Head of Private Bank, East Africa at AfrAsiaBank Limited.

Having spent 20 years with Barclays in and around London and the South of England, before moving to Dubai within the same group in 2004 with the directive to set up a Premier Banking operation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the banker’s role subsequently evolved. He developed a MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey) fly-in model covering over 20 countries. He left Barclays in 2009 to join Standard Chartered as the Head of Private Bank for the UAE. The opportunity to join AfrAsia came at the beginning of the current year.

His decision to join AfrAsia was a conscious one. “Having spent many years working in my home country, and then a further eight in the UAE, it was time to investigate first-hand what everyone seems to be talking about - Africa. I have experience in the region from my Dubai days as I had bankers flying in to the region, but I was, and still am, of the opinion that an African bank can only really feel the heartbeat of the region and needs to be present locally. It was time,” says Wells.

Interestingly, British-born Wells came straight into employment from college having majored in Mathematics, History and Economics, in spite of university offers. “I guess I was keen to start earning money and experiencing real life. With no absolutely fixed career ideas at the time, I didn’t see the point in foregoing another three years, and nothing I’ve seen in the past 20 years has convinced me that I was wrong. I have tended to study relevant to what I’m doing, so as recently as 2009 I was taking a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)examination in Dubai. It’s never too late to learn,” he confides.

The Head of Private Bank for East Africa at AfrAsia Bank Limited is optimistic regarding the continent. He is confident that “the continent is in very good shape and, broadly speaking, it is flourishing.”He goes on to say that statistics are confirming how life expectancy is rising as well as several parameters such as the visibility of the mobile phone amongst others. What is equally interesting to him is the huge increase in foreign investment and the “new” middle class. “ There are already more than 50 cities in Africa with more than a million people living in them. We will see a doubling of consumer spending in the next 10 years as incomes grow. As a bank, there is a tremendous opportunity to service that market. The words ‘Africa’ and ‘opportunity’ have almost become a little clichéd, but it is true, and we must take advantage of that. We can say that 60% of the world’s uncultivated land sits in Africa, 60% of the African population will have discretionary income within 25 years, and that Africa contains 7 of the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world. That’s powerful. As Europe and other parts of the world have struggled, Africa can, and is, benefitting,”declares Wells.

As a consequence, he is convinced that Mauritius, with its proximity to the continent, is the ideal International Financial Centre to manage the region’s wealth. He notes a host of ingredients to justify his conviction: the economic, political and legal policies are in place, that 36 double tax treaties exist, the state benefits from membership within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), there are already many experienced professionals at work here constituting a great talent pool which AfrAsia complements.

“AfrAsia, with its tremendous growth in such a short time in Mauritius, its excellent shareholder support and quickly earned reputation for service excellence, plus the support of Axys Capital Management in sourcing the right product solutions, is absolutely in the right place to expand into the mainland and take steps towards replicating the success on the island. There will be challenges, but the strategy is set and the wheels are moving,”says Wells.

So far, his most prized professional achievements revolve around the international assignments he has completed although he humbly believes he still has so much yet to do.

Married to Sabreena, Wells is the proud father of two children: Amirah, 10, and Reyyan, 9. Wells plays guitar in his free time and enjoys spending time with his family, travelling and photography. Ever since he competed in the London Marathon in 2010, he watches sport with interest.“I watch it more than I play it these days! But the benefit of having young children is that you get to vicariously live your childhood again,”he adds with humour.