I met Afua Kyei, Chief Financial Officer of the Bank of England, outside of St. John’s College as she and her team arrived for a highly anticipated event hosted by the Cambridge Finance & Investment Society (CUFIS), the Marshall Society, and the Cambridge University African Caribbean Society (ACS). Along with this Varsity interview, it was clear Kyei was in high demand.

Entering the porter’s lodge as a group of six certainly raised the porter’s eyebrows, but we were swiftly let in once the porter saw the event name and realised who Kyei was.

“As someone who craves pace and variety, she knew she needed a change”

There is undoubtedly more to Kyei than her CFO role. At the fireside chat, the crowd of students learned from a woman who has lived many lives: an Oxford chemistry graduate, a Princeton researcher, a former UBS Investment Banker, a mother of four children, and so much more.

Kyei’s journey began not in finance, but science. Growing up, she planned to study medicine, eventually pivoting to chemistry “to do something which would help more people”. Specifically, she wanted to create a drug that would do just that. Kyei studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, where her masters was focused on the creation of anti-tumorous molecules to cure cancer. From there, she crossed the Atlantic to become a Junior Research Fellow at Princeton, collaborating with Harvard on cutting-edge research in organic synthesis.

However, Kyei then was struck by the realisation of how long the PhD researcher path would take. Even “the best and brightest” had been pursuing their PhDs at Harvard for nine or more years. She was aware that even after completing a PhD, she would need to fight to build research groups, win over pharmaceutical partners, and overcome a growing list of hurdles. As someone who craves pace and variety, she knew she needed a change.

“Kyei climbed the career ladder at an exponential pace”

“I want to do something on Wall Street,” she told the advisors at Princeton’s Career Center. The catch? She had never taken a class in economics, finance, or business. Undeterred, she returned to the UK after the fellowship to become a chartered accountant, working in “financial services, auditing banks and doing M&A deals” during a three year qualification.

What had begun as a journey to achieve a PhD, ended with a transition into finance. Chemistry and the Bank of England may seem worlds apart, but they parallel by helping to promote the greater good, a mission that has been integral to Kyei’s journey. Her intellectual curiosity never dimmed – it simply found its place. Driven by her love to “learn new things… meet new people… and experience different things,” Kyei climbed the career ladder at an exponential pace.

Since joining the Bank of England in 2019 – just ahead of Brexit’s final act, a global pandemic, and various geopolitical crises – Kyei has been key to guiding the UK through its most volatile economic chapters.

From monitoring inflation to regulating the financial sector, her work impacts every household, shaping everything from mortgages to the cost of groceries. And yet, she insists, the chaos has forged resilience. The volatile nature of current affairs means that Kyei and the Bank have become used to “expecting the unexpected and being able to respond quickly”. In fact, she highlights that “it’s when we see the Bank at its best”.

A firm believer that no experience is a bad experience, during Kyei’s own university years, she worked for an insurance broker, the flagship Burberry store, and a chemistry lab. She sees value in students exposing themselves to different sectors, but also endorses travelling, taking time out, and working abroad. Kyei emphasises that “there are different routes and there are different ways to get experience; just go with what your instincts tell you”.

Named by Powerlist as the most influential black woman in the UK, Kyei hopes to use this influence to encourage people to “go after their ambitions, even if they don’t tick all of the boxes”. She is more than willing to take on this responsibility of inspiring others to “achieve their own potential”.