Barclays Africa Group Limited and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, has changed the brand name of Barclays Bank to ABSA in the markets where it operates.
Amalgamated Banks of South Africa was founded in 1991 through the merger of several South African banks, in 2005 the UK’s Barclays acquired a controlling majority, and in 2017 reduced that share from 62.3% to 14.9% by selling shares to large investors.
The South African press reported that the sale of the controlling interest in ABSA, South Africa’s third-largest financial institution, ended more than a century of British bank involvement in Africa, which has decided to focus its activity on the domestic market and the United States.
In a statement issued last week, ABSA Group Limited reported that the exception to the rule would be the operation in Kenya, out of the 12 African countries where it operates.
