Afua Kyei, the finance chief of the Bank of England, has been named the UK\u2019s most influential black person.<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old, who was appointed by Mark Carney, the bank\u2019s former governor and now Canada\u2019s prime minister, has replaced the CEO of the tech firm Forterro, Dean Forbes<\/a>, in the top spot of this year\u2019s Powerlist.<\/p>\n Kyei appeared third on the 2025 list behind Forbes and the president of international at the Bank of America, Bernard Mensah.<\/p>\n The power list was started in 2006 to showcase black role models to young people across industries including business, science, technology and the arts. Speaking with the Guardian, Kyei described topping the list as an honour and recognition for the public sector.<\/p>\n Women occupy more than two in five seats on the boards of Britain\u2019s biggest listed companies, according to a report published earlier this year that also found the number of female FTSE 100 chief executives dipped for a time to fewer than 10.<\/p>\n Kyei, who is also co-executive sponsor for diversity equity and inclusion as well as the bank\u2019s climate change disclosure, said one of her aims was to help others fulfil their ambitions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a shortage in black leadership. If you look at the FTSE 350, if we look at the FTSE 100, we do not see black chairs, we do not see black CEO\u2019s. I think one of the challenges is that young people cannot see themselves represented and they do not see role models,\u201d said Kyei.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the Powerlist is fantastic because it has provided visibility to the role models that are across every industry so that young people can look up and say, well, if they can, so can I.\u201d<\/p>\n