Barclays could retain its name in Africa after the exit of its British parent company, a top official said on Friday.
Barclays Africa Group deputy chief executive David Hodnett, who has been in the country for two weeks, said the group has signed a contractual protection of the brand which would allow
it to continue using the name even after the exit of Barclays PLC.
Barclays Bank Plc currently owns 50.1 per cent of Barclays Africa Group and plans sell it down in a structured manner over the next two to three years. It previously controlled 62.3 per cent stake.
The sale will help the British lender to achieve accounting and regulatory deconsolidation of the business, it said earlier this year.
“However, there is no guarantee that Barclays brand will be retained because it's not known whether regulators will require Barclays PLC to deconsolidate its operations in Africa to the level of the brand,” he said in response to queries by Barclays Bank of Kenya shareholders during the bank’s annual general meeting in Nairobi on Friday.
Barclays' exit has become a very emotional subject owing to its century long presence on the continent.
"You go to places like Uganda and Kenya and the brand of Barclays is as strong there as it is in the UK," Barclays Plc chief executive Jes Staley said in March.
Maintaining the “customer facing brand” through a contractual arrangement
is a method that has been explored before here in Kenya.
Vivo Energy retained the Shell brand after buying the downstream fuels business of Royal Dutch Shell PLC in a number of African countries in 2011.
Barclays Africa Group was formed in 2013, creating one of the biggest banking groups on the continent, which is independently funded business in full control of the African operations.
Hodnett said the of the stake held by Barclays Plc would only have an impact in the shareholding of Barclays Africa Group and not any of the subsidiaries.
The group has majority stakes in banks in Kenya, Botswana, Mauritius, Mozambique, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Seychelles.
“Barclays PLC has indicated it will ensure only the appropriate large scale investors take up the stake that will be offloaded,” he said.