Maria Ramos could not have chosen a more difficult moment to become CEO of Absa, a Barclays subsidiary that is one of South Africa’s largest financial-services companies. Taking over the job in March 2009 in the midst of the global financial crisis, Ramos, an economist by training, has had to call upon the broad range of skills she honed in a career split between the private sector and public service. Before joining Absa, Ramos was CEO of Transnet, where she gained an international reputation for her leadership in helping to turn around that giant state-owned transport and logistics company.

In an interview with McKinsey’s David Fine, Ramos discusses Africa’s economic prospects, the status of the continent’s financial sector and the way the crisis has affected it, and the importance of financial inclusiveness to economic development.