Bank of England chief Afua Kyei tops 2026 Powerlist as UK’s most influential black person

Bank of England treasurer Afua Kyei has been named Britain’s most influential black person.

43 year old He is one of the UK’s most senior finance leaders, responsible for the financial management of the bank’s £1 trillion balance sheet and funding reforms.

The BoE chief executive has topped the 2026 Powerlist, which recognizes the most powerful people of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage in the UK.

Other influential names include former footballer Ian Wright, make-up artist Dame Pat McGrath and actor Idris Elba, who are new to the list.

Kyei, who was hired by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as a former governor of the Bank of England, said it was “incredibly humbling” to be at the top of the list.

The mother of four said she saw clear differences in the workplace while growing up.

She said: “I haven’t seen too many women with families in big leadership roles and I know there are a lot of women who feel they have to choose between work and having a family.

“What I love about the Bank of England is that we really support working families and working parents.”

Kyei studied chemistry at Oxford University and was also awarded a junior research fellowship in organic chemistry by Princeton University.

He was an investment banker before joining Barclays Bank, where he served as Chief Financial Officer of Mortgages during the global financial crisis.

He joined the Bank of England in 2019 and is at the heart of the Bank’s leadership and decision-making.

He said his parents, who moved from Ghana to England at the age of 18 to attend university, were his biggest role models.

“My mother came to Liverpool, trained to be a midwife and had a career in the NHS that lasted over 40 years.

“My father had a long career in the oil industry. I saw them juggle work and home. They instilled really strong values ​​in us,” he added.

Kyei hopes to inspire more young people to consider banking as a career.

“You don’t have to be a mathematician, you don’t have to be an accountant and you don’t have to be an economist. What we’re looking for is new perspectives and we want the best people.”

Kyei replaces tech CEO Dean Forbes at the top of the list.

According to Powerful Media, the annual Powerlist was first published in 2007 and was intended to provide role models for young black people.

Michael Eboda, founder of Powerlist, said he thought they would run out of people after three years, but the opposite happened.

“Over the last 20 years we have seen more influencers from the private sector rather than the public sector, and that is a great success story in Britain.”