Barclays Bank is Leaving Africa but Barclays Africa is Here to Stay
Barclays Bank confirmed on Tuesday that it is leaving Africa – after a long history on the continent – but that it will be a long goodbye. The bank said it will not pack up immediately, but will sell down its 62 percent stake in Barclays Africa over two to three years. Investors seemed satisfied, with profits […]
Barclays Bank confirmed on Tuesday that it is leaving Africa – after a long history on the continent – but that it will be a long goodbye.
The bank said it will not pack up immediately, but will sell down its 62 percent stake in Barclays Africa over two to three years.
Investors seemed satisfied, with profits reported and Barclays Africa closed two percent higher.
Most of Barclay’s Africa returns are derived from ABSA operations in South Africa.
Barclays cited the reasons for its withdrawal as being related to regulations that encourage it to focus on big markets in the UK and USA.
Analysts believe it is also the depreciation of the rand and the state of the South African economy that have contributed to the decision.
Chief Executive of Barclays Africa, Maria Ramos, claims nothing will change for banking customers and that the future is bright for the company. Following the news on Tuesday, she published the following open letter to South Africans:
An open letter from Maria Ramos to South Africans:
Barclays Africa is here to stay. Absa is here to stay.
In 2013, we fulfilled our ambition to build a leading African bank when we brought together 12 banks across the continent and formed Barclays Africa. We put the future of this organisation firmly in our own hands. There are five things I would like you to know about the Barclays Africa that we built:
1. We employ 42 000 people whom I am immensely proud to call my colleagues and friends.
2. We have over 12 million customers who trust us with their money in 12 countries across the continent.
3. We have significant reach in Africa with 1 251 branches and 10 378 ATMs.
4. We are a leading bank in all of the 12 markets in which we operate.
5. We are independently listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and have a strong balance sheet of over R1 trillion and are well capitalised.
Today Barclays PLC announced their intention to sell down their 62.3% stake in Barclays Africa (Absa in South Africa) over the coming two to three years. This announcement will not affect you, our customers, in any way and we at Absa will continue to serve you as we have done for over 100 years.
Our future as Barclays Africa is very bright and our ambition to be Africa’s leading bank remains unchanged. We are deeply committed to the communities in which we live and work and today, when we announced our financial results I also said we will invest R1,4 billion in education and skills development across Africa over the next three years. That commitment extends to the way we serve our customers. Nothing in today’s announcements will make us deviate or change our course. We at Barclays Africa are neither exiting our operations in South Africa nor the rest of our African markets.
Our destiny is Africa and our business is one of shared prosperity. We look forward to building a future and helping you, South Africa and Africa, Prosper.
Kind regards
Maria Ramos
CEO of Barclays Africa
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