Seychelles appointed Sarah Lloyd as governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles for a six-year term beginning on 1 November 2026. The appointment returns Lloyd to the institution where she began her career. She will succeed Caroline Abel, who resigned in September after 14 years as governor.
Lloyd is currently chief risk officer at Absa Bank Zambia, a role she has held since March 2022. Before moving to Zambia, she served as chief risk officer at Absa Bank Seychelles from February 2019. Her commercial banking experience therefore spans risk oversight in two African markets.
PREVIOUS CENTRAL BANK EXPERIENCE
Lloyd joined the Central Bank of Seychelles in 2007 as a research assistant. She later worked as an economist, communications coordinator and senior financial stability analyst. The presidency said she established and headed the central bank's Financial Stability Unit.
Her earlier central-bank work included financial stability, payment systems oversight and representation in regional and international forums. Those responsibilities place supervision and operational resilience among the relevant areas of continuity as she returns. Her later Absa roles added commercial-bank risk management experience.
TRANSITION BEGINS IN NOVEMBER
First Deputy Governor Brian Commettant has led the central bank in an acting capacity since Abel's departure. Seychelles appoints the governor through the institution's statutory board framework. Lloyd's term will start after that interim period.
The change gives Seychelles a governor with experience on both the regulatory and commercial sides of banking. Attention will turn to how Lloyd sets priorities for financial stability, payments oversight and monetary operations. The next concrete milestone is her assumption of office on 1 November.