Barclays Africa Group to rebrand under Absa umbrella |02 March 2018
• ‘Our agreements with our customers and with our staff will remain the same,’ states Barclays Bank Seychelles
The Barclays Africa Group Limited, one of the largest banking groups in Africa, has decided to change its name to Absa Group Limited. Absa is currently the brand of the Barclays Africa Group’s South African brand.
The rebranding, which will be subject to approval from regulators and shareholders, was officially announced yesterday by the company’s management team based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Its new corporate identity will be adopted in due course and is, more than anything else, a result of Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) having to detach itself from the operations of UK-based Barclays PLC.
The British Bank sold-down its shares in BAGL to dub itself down to minority shareholder with 14.9% of shares in 2017.
This radical decision was followed by a Separation Arrangement which, among other conditions, allowed BAGL to continue to use the Barclays brand for up to 12 months in South Africa and for up to three years in other BAGL territories.
Henceforth the name change will be effective in South Africa as of mid-2018.
Meanwhile the name change will be a gradual process in the nine other African countries BAGL operates in.
These are Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Seychelles; all of the Barclays’ branches in these countries will have until 2020 to cease trading under Barclays and adopt the Absa brand.
“We are resetting our business with a bold, new growth strategy that leverages our existing footprint and market insights,” the chief executive of BAGL relayed through a phone conference call.
“The new identity is further evidence of the scale of the transformation and change in our business - a new brand for a new banking group.”
Along with the rebranding, the group is embarking on an ambitious strategic direction with the aim of doubling its market share to 12% of African banking revenues, restore market-leading position in core business areas and continue to grow through innovation.
In light of these changes within BAGL, the team at Barclays Bank Seychelles met the local media yesterday to clarify how the local branch will fit into the new strategic plan.
“There will be absolutely no changes within our operations,” the managing director of Barclays Bank (Seychelles), Johan Van Schalkwyk, stressed. “Our agreements with our customers and with our staff with employment contracts will remain the same. There will be no change to that because a change in brand does not equate a change in ownership or in legal entity.”
Fabiola Horner, the retail director at Barclays Seychelles, said discussions concerning the name change have already started with regulatory bodies such as the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning.
Although not much is expected to change, clients of the bank should expect certain physical alterations such as new credit/debit cards once Barclays Bank (Seychelles) officially starts floating its Absa banner.
More than a few thousands of these cards are estimated to be swapped in Seychelles while the amount will surge into millions for the whole Barclays Africa Group.
The cost of how much these will cost remains undisclosed but it is known that Barclays PLC contributed ₤765 million to BAGL under the Separation Arrangement, ₤55 million of which was to cover separation-related expenses.