ON 15TH of May 2018, shareholders of Barclays Bank Africa will meet at an Annual General Meeting in Johannesburg South Africa to accept a proposal to change the name of the prestige bank to Absa. On this day Barclays Africa would be named Absa and this will immediately affect Barclays Ghana which would have its name changed to Absa Ghana.
This is happening after the parent company; Barclays PLC sold significant shares in Barclays Africa to Absa leaving its current shares in Barclays Africa at 14.9% from about 60%.
The 14.9% shares represents the desired long term shareholding in Barclays Africa .Based on the name change Barclays bank Ghana would be renamed Absa Ghana or Absa Bank Ghana , according to sources. Barclays Bank Ghana has operated in Ghana for over 100 years
Other countries to be affected by this decision are Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania and Zambia.
The Absa branch has substantial equity as one of the largest banks in South Africa and enjoys recognition on the continent.
History of ABSA Bank
On 2 Aug 2013. “Barclays Africa Group Limited” trades for the first time on the Johannesburg Stock Echange. ABSA bought up most of Barclays Africa’s operations, and then renamed to “Barclays Africa Group Limited”.
ABSA Bank is one of the big five banks in South Africa (the other four are Capitec, Standard Bank, FNB and Nedbank), providing a variety of banking and financial services. ABSA stands for “Amalgamated Banks of South Africa”, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the ABSA Group Limited.ABSA Financial Services Limited is a 100% owned subsidiary of ABSA Group Limited, which owns Absa Life Limited and Absa Insurance Company Limited.
ABSA Group Limited also owns 80% of Banco Austral, Sarl (Mozambique), 55% of the National Bank of Commerce Limited (Tanzania) and 55% of Banco Commercial Angolano (Angola).
By Adu Koranteng
