Ramos oversaw the formation of Barclays Africa Group (BAGL) in 2013, bringing together 12 banks across the continent—most of them operations of Barclays—into a single pan-African institution with an independent board and separate listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Barclays owned a 62% stake in that entity until earlier this year, when the British bank announced its intention to back away from its Africa business. It was a decision that had less to do with the performance of BAGL—despite South Africa’s dismal economy, it grew revenues and profits by 10% and 8% in local currency in 2015 (in dollars, a 6 and 7% decline)— than the diminished ambitions of the London-based financial institution. That leaves Ramos managing the complicated divorce. An economist who served in the government of Nelson Mandela, Ramos is also the architect behind South Africa’s budgeting process and several public finance laws.