Rabat – In a bid to reposition itself in the African banking sector, London-based Barclays is “looking at business opportunities in Morocco,” says Amol Prabhu, the bank’s market head for Africa.
Speaking to African Business, Prabhu said that the British bank, which has operated on the continent for over a century, is “going forward with a new chapter in Africa,” noting that “this ‘leaving Africa’ notion is misunderstood.”
Barclays continues to have a presence in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria where it has focused on private, investment, and corporate banking despite the presence of numerous international and local banks.
Besides its focus on South, West, and East Asia, the British bank is “very active” in the UK, the Middle East, and the US, Prabhu said.
By branding itself as “an independent stable financial provider with the ability to link African clients to its global network,” Barclays seeks to enter new markets worldwide.
The British bank notably aims to re-enter the Egyptian market after Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank acquired Barclays Egypt in 2017. At the time, the Cairo-based bank had 1,500 employees and 56 branches across 18 Egyptian cities. The Egyptian branch recorded a net banking income of MAD 1 billion ($96.6 million) prior to the signing of the acquisition deal in October 2016.
Aware of the competition Barclays will face in the Moroccan and Egyptian banking sectors, Prabhu said that the bank’s added values are for primarily business owners seeking to trade with foreign entities or expand their operations abroad.
“We don’t add value on the local, local, local. We add real value for individuals and firms which have overseas needs,” he explained.
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