Absa Group Limited, formerly known as Barclays Africa Group Limited, has officially been renamed and has started trading under its new name and new share code (ABG) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The new Absa Group has a presence in 12 African countries and is currently planning to launch international offices in the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Our new name and brand are an expression of our new purpose and strategic direction, which commits us to growing in Africa. We are rallying around a shared sense of purpose and identity while celebrating our diversity,” said Absa Group Limited Chief Executive Officer Maria Ramos.
On the 1st of March, 2018, Absa Group announced a new growth strategy as it separated from Barclays PLC. The new strategy prioritises cultural transformation as well as restoring leadership position in the group’s core business areas, and developing pioneering propositions for customers and clients. The new Absa brand design is a reflection of the group’s new purpose, which is: ‘bringing your possibility to life’.
Absa brand design in South Africa will be completed in 2019. The new Absa brand will also be extended to Absa Group’s Barclays banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia by mid-2020, subject to approvals including from regulators in those countries. Product and service functionality will not in any way, be affected by the rebranding programme.
“We would like to build the brand as a bank that Africa’s people can be proud of, a truly independent African bank with global scalability,” said Ramos. “A single brand will enable us to unite behind a single identity, purpose and strategy; we are excited by the enormous opportunity we have to create a bank that Africa can be proud of.”
