Opinions of Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Columnist: Barclays Bank Ghana

Barclays is changing to Absa

Abena Osei-Poku, Managing Director, Barclays Bank Abena Osei-Poku, Managing Director, Barclays Bank

Absa Group Limited is Barclays Ghana’s parent company and is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa. It is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups, offering an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking; corporate and investment banking; and wealth, investment management and insurance.

The Group has a presence in 12 African countries, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda, Seychelles, South Africa (Absa Bank), Tanzania (Barclays Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia. The Group also has representive offices in Namibia and Nigeria, as well as insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia, and an international representative office in London with one soon to be opened in New York.

The Absa Group is one of the largest banking groups in Africa, with a balance sheet of more than US$ 90 billion (as of December 2018). You can bank with us as safely as you always have.

Absa’s ambition is to become a proudly African bank with global scalability, that is forward looking and fit for the digital age.

Barclays bank Ghana will be changing to Absa Bank in February 2020. As the bank prepares to change, Customers of Absa Bank Ghana can expect a more forward-looking, digitally led bank.

• Tha bank has recognised that its customers’ needs are changing, and are investing in digital platforms to offer more convenience.
• The bank has recently upgraded its infrastructure, which has resulted in a more stable and scalable environment for their applications, as well as increased local systems knowledge.

• Customers can also look out for the bank’s refreshed internet banking and mobile app facilities, which carry improved user interfaces e.g finger print and facial recognition access.

The new Absa brand has been inspired by the African continent and its people, and will unite the group under a single purpose – to bring your possibility to life. Africa is a continent of doers, always going above and beyond to get things done. Absa is inspired by this spirit that thrives on turning every challenge into an opportunity.

Absa’s commitment to Shared Value


Absa Group’s shared-value approach reflects its ambition to become a purpose-driven financial services organisation creating substantial social impact through its core business functions, while also delivering shareholder value.
Absa is committed to Shared Value which, to the bank, means working to improve people’s lives and strengthen communities, while creating value for shareholders. Absa continues to do this by unlocking societal solutions through innovative products, services and partnerships with a primary focus on enabling employment for the next generation.
For example:
- Absa was present at the World Economic Forum held in Davos and Pretoria, 2019, where we proudly shared the richness of the African continent. Absa collaborated with Niche Cocoa in Ghana to showcase their products at the Absa pop-up venue.

Absa is passionate about the youth

Absa is youth focused and has in the last three years, supported 219,000 young persons including 35,000 Ghanaians, to realise their full potentail through education and skills development.

- Barclays Ghana , part of the Absa family, in the past three years, has awarded close to 500 scholarships to students in 13 univesities.

- The bank also supports SMEs by providing capacity building programmes to ensure that they grow their businesses in a sustainable way – a great leap forward for the promotion of entrepreneurship in Ghana


As part of Barclays bank’s preparation to become Absa, cherished customers will begin to experience an amazing transformation of the bank’s branches and ATMs, designed to offer them exciting banking experience. A splash of its vibrant and passionate red colours will create a welcoming atmosphhere for customers.

Barclays has operated in Ghana for over 100 years and its parent Group, Absa Group Limited is proud to continue to build on this incredible heritage. Absa looks forward to partnering its customers for many more years, offering them relevant and innovative solutions to bring possibilities to life.