The bank has a 62.3 per cent share in the African operation. Speculation has been rife that Barclays wants to get out of Africa.

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By Rosemary Mirondo & Agencies @mwaikama rmirondo@tz.nationmedia.com

Dar es Salaam. British bank Barclays has confirmed it will sell its stake in Barclays Africa.

The bank has a 62.3 per cent share in the African operation. Speculation has been rife that Barclays wants to get out of Africa.

“As part of the simplification of the group, we have decided, subject to required shareholder and regulatory approval, to reduce our interest in Barclays Africa to a non-controlling, non-consolidated position over the next 2-3 years,” said Mr Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays Plc.

The banking giant revealed annual after-tax losses of $549 million. Consequently, Barclays has reduced its business to two divisions — Barclays UK and Barclays Corporate and International. Earlier Barclays Africa Group chief executive Maria Ramos said through a teleconference that the bank would still play a significant role on the continent where it has operations.

The group has a 55 per cent stake in Tanzania’s National Bank of Commerce (NBC) while the government of Tanzania and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation own 30 and 15 per cent respectively.

Barclays Bank Plc also owns all 100 shares of Barclays Bank Tanzania. The Barclays Africa Group statement comes after Financial Times reported that its UK-based parent was to announce the sale of its interests in Africa yesterday.

The proposed divestiture is being pushed by Mr Staley, according to a report by the London-based newspaper.

Barclays yesterday announced further shake-up of its operations after losses more than doubled last year.

It said the aim of the reorganisation was to restore its battered reputation. The bank intends to split itself into two units, focusing on its operations in Britain and the US. It comes as Barclays revealed annual losses after tax of £394 million ($549 million, 505 million euros) for the bank as a whole. The 2015 net loss, compared to one of £174 million a year earlier, was largely the result of money set aside to compensate customers mis-sold controversial insurance product, or PPI. But Ms Ramos said yesterday that Barclays Africa Group posted a 10 per cent increase in its headline earnings for the year ending December 31, 2015, being a solid performance supported by a three-year strategy implemented in 2014.

“There is no doubt that the three-year strategy that we embarked on in 2014 has placed us in a stronger position,” she said. She affirmed the bank’s optimism on its prospects in Africa which has a strong franchise with assets of over R 1 trillion. However, Ms Ramos said Barclays Africa’s strategy would not be changing despite the fact that their shareholders are changing.

“Nothing in today’s announcements will make us deviate or change our course. We are not exiting our operations in any of our African markets.”