Mozambique

Entered market 

1892

The Bank of Africa established branches in Lourenco Marques and Beira in 1892, and after this, was acquired by the National Bank of South Africa in 1911. The National Bank of South Africa, was, in turn, acquired by Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial & Overseas) in 1925. Many years later, in 1958, Barclays opened an agency at Macuti Beach, Beira to cater for the then nascent tourist trade. Six years later, in 1964, DCO operated 5 offices as well as a Mozambique local board within the country. In 1971, Barclays businesses were sold to Banco Comercial de Angola in exchange for a holding within that bank. Following the acquisition of a controlling interest in the South African banking group ABSA in 2005, Barclays now owned 80% of Banco Austral SARL, which had 47 branches within Mozambique. Banco Austral SARL was renamed Barclays Bank Mozambique in 2007, as part of efforts to relaunch the Barclays brand within the country. One of the initiatives in which Barclays Bank Mozambique has participated in recent years is 'Express' branches, which are prefabricated buildings that can be quickly erected and offer full banking services, as a way to bring financial services to unbanked and under-banked communities within the country. In 2013, Barclays Mozambique celebrated its 10th anniversary and soon after announced a partnership with the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in order to develop Mozambique's natural resources. In 2013 it was announced that Barclays’ African businesses would be incorporated in a new business grouping, Barclays Africa Group Ltd (BAGL), of which Barclays owned 62.3%. In May 2016 Barclays announced plans for a progressive reduction of its shareholding in BAGL, to be completed within 3 years, as part of its long term strategy and in response to prevailing regulatory capital rules and the UK bank levy, initially to 50.1% of BAGL’s capital. In 2017 the holding was further reduced to 16.4%. Full separation was announced in 2018, with provision for Barclays’ branding to be used until 2020.

Traded as

Bank of Africa