MOZAMBIQUE – Barclays bank in Mozambique is to rebrand itself as Absa Bank from November 11. The operation is expected to be completed in the coming months, reports Club of Mozambique.

 “We have started introducing the new logo today at counters and ATMs across the country to ensure a gradual and natural change,” Deputy Director Rui Barros announced at a press conference.

Barclays is present in 49 locations in Mozambique, with “two-thirds of the brand change already underway”.

All Barclays Mozambique cards, accounts, checks, and access keys will remain active and functioning during the brand change, Barros promised, adding “Barclays-branded cards and checks may be used without any restrictions after November 11, but the bank will gradually replace them over the coming months.”

“The bank is about to enter a new stage, with great opportunities that will allow us to realise our ambition for growth as an independent African bank,” he said.

Support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), agriculture and local Mozambican content are an important part of the bank’s focus, Barros said.

“More product offerings and an appetite to be present will bring a differentiated offer” with regard to interest rate spreads, he added.

Absa Bank – Amalgamated Banks of South Africa – is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was founded in 1991 and merged with Barclays’ African operations in 2013, to take over the British brand in a reverse process five years later.

Absa is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with total assets of over US$91 billion, making it one of Africa’s largest financial services groups.

In late 2017, London-based Barclays PLC reduced its stake in parent company Barclays Africa Group Limited from 62.3% to 14.9%, which led to a change of name and brand in the 12 African markets where it operates.

Barclays Africa changed its name back to Absa in a rebranding aimed at underlining its South African roots as Britain’s Barclays gradually retreats from the continent.

The name change comes almost a year after Barclays sold most of its controlling stake in Absa, South Africa’s third-largest lender, ending more than a century of the British bank’s involvement in Africa to focus on its home market and the United States.