When Afua Kyei walks into the Bank of England each morning, she isn’t just crunching numbers — she’s rewriting history.
As the institution’s first Black executive in its 329-year existence, the Bank’s Chief Financial Officer stands at the heart of one of the most powerful financial systems in the world. And now, she’s been named number one on the 2026 Powerlist, which honors the most influential people of African, African-Caribbean, and African American heritage in the UK.
It’s a monumental achievement — but for Kyei, it’s also personal. She’s done it all while raising four children under the age of ten.
“I want women to know that it is possible to juggle a career as well as family,” she told BBC Radio London’s Eddie Nestor in an interview this week. “When I was growing up in the investment bank, there were not many women who had big leadership roles as well as families. But if you have the right culture and the right people around you, you can succeed and thrive at the very top.”
Doing My Job at Home, Surrounded by My Young Children
During the pandemic, as the world of finance scrambled to keep economies afloat, Kyei faced a more intimate kind of chaos.
“I was doing my job from home with young children around me,” she said, laughing softly. “I remember the Hoover going off during a big national decision — my four-year-old son had turned it on! That’s how it felt — I was doing my job at home, surrounded by my young children.”
The anecdote captures the resilience that has defined Kyei’s path. Behind the calm professionalism expected of one of Britain’s most powerful financial figures lies the daily juggle of motherhood, leadership, and expectation.
Breaking Barriers in Britain’s Oldest Institution
Founded in 1694, the Bank of England has long symbolized continuity and conservatism. Kyei’s appointment as CFO marked a turning point — one that reflects not only progress in diversity but also the slow, deliberate transformation of Britain’s financial establishment.
Her inclusion atop the Powerlist is more than symbolic. It highlights how the conversation around representation in leadership has shifted from visibility to impact. Kyei isn’t just in the room — she’s at the table where national financial strategy is shaped.
“She represents what modern Britain can look like at its best — inclusive, ambitious, and driven by competence, not conformity,” said one City of London executive who has followed her career.
A Message to Working Women
For Kyei, her recognition comes with a responsibility to inspire. Her message to women — especially mothers navigating demanding careers — is simple but powerful: don’t count yourself out.
“To anyone thinking they need to stop working because it won’t be possible to juggle work and family,” she said, “in my experience, it is possible to do both.”
That conviction, shared with warmth rather than defiance, offers a quiet challenge to workplaces still slow to accommodate the dual realities of career and caregiving.
Afua Kyei’s rise is not just a personal triumph; it’s a signpost for a changing Britain. Her story punctures the myth that ambition and motherhood are incompatible, and it does so from the heart of one of the world’s most tradition-bound institutions.
In a year when economic headlines are dominated by instability and austerity, Kyei’s achievement is a reminder that leadership grounded in humanity still matters.
Her Hoover anecdote, funny and familiar, says more about modern leadership than any policy memo: the future of finance — and indeed of leadership itself — looks a lot more like real life.
