The seasonally adjusted Barclays Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reversed October’s loss and rose by 2.4 points to 48.3 index points in November. Despite the uptick, this was the fourth straight month that the index stayed below the neutral 50-point mark, suggesting that factory sector output growth remains under pressure.

In addition, the average for the first two months of the fourth quarter is 1.8 points below that of the third quarter. In the absence of official data for the fourth quarter, the PMI suggests that output is likely to remain subdued after a 1.3% quarter-on-quarter contraction in manufacturing production in the third quarter.

Two of the key subcomponents of the headline PMI showed an encouraging improvement in November. Most notable is the 6.9-point increase in the new sales orders index to 51.4 index points. Higher export orders likely drove this improvement with local (consumer) demand remaining under pressure. Increased orders helped lift the business activity index to 48.9 index points in November, up from 43.5 in October.

Despite the improvement, the business activity index has now been below 50 for five straight months. Also lingering below 50 points is the inventory index which fell by a further 2 points to 45.2 in November.

On a positive note, this means that the new sales orders index outstripped the inventories index, resulting in the PMI leading indicator edging above 1 – this usually bodes well for production going forward. Overall, purchasing managers were also slightly more upbeat about business conditions during the first half of 2017. The index measuring expected business conditions in six months’ time rose by 3.3 points to 53.9 in November after plunging by 13.2 points in the previous month.

After moving lower for four consecutive months, the price index reversed the trend and rose to 65.6 points in November, up from 59.4 in October. The increase was likely driven by the hefty fuel price hike at the start of November, but the expected fuel price decline in December could alleviate some of the upward pressure on costs

The seasonally adjusted Barclays Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) declined by 6.2 index points to reach 46.3 in August 2016. The magnitude of the drop was somewhat surprising after the PMI managed to remain above the neutral 50-point mark during the preceding five months. The decline was driven by a steep fall in the new sales orders index and a second straight monthly decline in the business activity index.

Both of these indices are now well below the neutral 50-point mark. However, the majority of respondents indicated that sales orders and output levels were unchanged compared to the previous month rather than down. This suggests that activity may be largely flat compared to July instead of sharply lower.

Despite the big drop in the headline PMI, there were some encouraging signs that the deterioration may have been temporary. The employment index remained just above 50, which could suggest that purchasing managers expect activity to pick up again and in anticipation kept employment levels steady. Indeed, purchasing managers were the most optimistic about expected business conditions in about a year. The index measuring expected business conditions in six months’ time rose to 61.5 index points from 55.4 previously.

The second consecutive decline in the price index was likely also welcomed by manufacturers. The stronger rand exchange rate (in the first three weeks of the month) and the hefty fuel price decline at the start of the month likely contributed to slower cost increases. However, renewed rand weakness in the final week of August (if sustained) means that upward cost pressure could return in coming months.

• Matlare becomes an Executive Director to drive rest of Africa growth strategy
• David Hodnett continues as Financial Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for SA banking business.
• Stephen van Coller, CEO of Corporate and Investment Bank to retire from banking effective 30 September 2016.

Barclays Africa Group Ltd (BAGL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Matlare as Deputy Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for our rest of Africa banking operations with effect from 1 August 2016. He will remain on the Board but change from non-executive to executive director.

The appointment of a Deputy CEO and Executive Director to oversee the rest of Africa business underscores Barclays Africa’s strategy to grow across all its markets in Africa.

Group Chief Executive Officer, Maria Ramos commented: “Peter is a seasoned executive that brings a wealth of skills and leadership experience across multiple industries. He knows our business intimately having served as an independent non-executive director since 2011. We look forward to his contribution as we continue to pursue our growth strategy in markets across the continent.”

“Barclays Africa is a robust business with excellent growth opportunities on the African continent. I am delighted to join a team that has delivered sustainable and strong returns for shareholders on the back of a sound and differentiated strategy, and I look forward to contributing to its success in a new role on the Executive Committee,” said Matlare.

The responsibility for rest of Africa previously fell under the portfolio of David Hodnett, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Financial Director of BAGL.

David Hodnett shall continue as Financial Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of BAGL, but with responsibility for the South African [banking] businesses, which make up a substantial part of Barclays Africa. This includes Retail and Business Banking and the Corporate and Investment Bank. “David Hodnett’s appointment is critical to growing our SA business, which remains our base and the biggest component of BAGL. As an Executive Director on our Board he will continue to play a key role in driving our growth strategy,” Ramos commented.

Craig Bond will continue in his role as chief executive of the retail and business bank (RBB) and a member of the Barclays Africa executive committee.

Stephen Van Coller, CEO of Barclays Africa Corporate and Investment Bank, will retire from banking with effect from 30 September 2016.

“Stephen has been a key driver of change in the BAGL business. He has been instrumental in the growth of our corporate and investment banking business and has been at the heart of our Shared Growth strategy spanning education and skills training, enterprise development and financial inclusion – which is being launched next week. I am very grateful to him for his dedication and contribution. All of us at Barclays Africa wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” said Ramos.

The seasonally adjusted Barclays Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.7 index points in June, up from 51.9 in May. The PMI has now remained above the neutral 50-point mark for four consecutive months. This is an encouraging sign that conditions in the factory sector may be improving after a lacklustre 2015 and slow start to 2016.

The solid performance of the PMI was supported by all five major subcomponents coming in above 50 points. Stronger demand, according to some respondents driven by improved exports, helped lift production higher. As a result, the new sales orders and business activity indices rose to just above 54 index points. However, it remains to be seen whether this will be sustained.

Domestic demand remains weak and exports could come under renewed pressure due to weaker UK and Eurozone growth in a post-Brexit world. A few respondents indicated that demand was supported by clients stocking up in anticipation of possible supply disruptions if upcoming wage negotiations in the automotive sector result in labour unrest in the third quarter. This suggests that any improvement in domestic demand may have been temporary. Increased stock levels were also seen in the PMI. The inventories index rose to 57 from 51.5 previously. The current level is the highest in almost a year.

The price index ticked up for a second straight month to 81.4 points from 80.1 previously. Despite the recent upward move, the average for the second quarter is more than 8 points below the first-quarter average. This corresponds to the official Producer Price Index which also suggests a slight moderation in final manufactured goods’ inflation in the second quarter. Through the remainder of the year, upward price pressure could intensify as a sustained weak rand and higher electricity and fuel prices push up manufacturers’ costs.

This may have contributed to purchasing managers being less upbeat about expected business conditions in six months’ time. This index fell to 52.9 from 54.1 in May – thereby still suggesting that conditions are expected to improve going forward. However, high inventory levels (compared to new sales orders) pushed the PMI leading indicator back below 1 for the first time since January 2016. This usually does not bode well for production growth going forward as inventories outstrip demand.

Barclays Plc has announced today details of the sale of the first tranche of its shares in Barclays Africa Group Limited

The shares were sold to a mix of existing and new investors. A total of 103,592,491 ordinary shares were sold at a price of ZAR 13,053 million, reducing the Barclays PLC stake in BAGL to 50.1%.

Completion of this transaction demonstrates a healthy investor appetite for BAGL, with the book covered multiple times.

Further details concerning the sale can be found in the accompanying RNS issued to the London Stock Exchange by Barclays Plc and SENS announcement issued by Barclays Africa Group Limited.

Artificial intelligence enabled bots to answer simple customer questions quickly

Barclays Africa Group Ltd’s (Barclays Africa) subsidiary Absa Bank Ltd (Absa) announced today that it would pilot a chatbot within the coming few weeks, making it the first bank to do so in Africa. Chatbots use artificial intelligence to simulate intelligent conversation through written or spoken text.

Yasaman Hadjibashi, Chief Data Officer at Barclays Africa, explains: “At Absa, we are constantly seeking new ways to be more relevant to our customers. By aligning our user-centric and big data expertise we are able to connect with our customers through channels that they are actively using.”

The fact that messaging apps continue to eclipse social media (as the conversational channel of choice in monthly active users) means that consumers are quickly adopting ‘smart’ two-way messaging apps as opposed to traditional, and more limited options such as SMS or email.
According to Jan Moganwa, Chief Executive of Personal & Business Customer Solutions at Barclays Africa, artificial intelligence enabled chatbots can answer simple customer questions quickly, freeing up staff to focus on more complex customer issues that require deeper human insight.

“Connecting with our customers is core to our business. Introducing chatbots at Absa provides greater ability to have relevant conversations with our customers, and provide immediate response,” says Moganwa.

The trial of the chatbots not only marks a transformation in the way the bank will engage with customers, but further underscores its efforts to become the most intelligent bank.

“Using artificial intelligence, the bank can learn what individual customers regularly ask for, in real-time, and make these options easier to find for the customer,” adds Anna Nascimento, Head of Commercial Engagement, Personal Bank at Barclays Africa.

After 13 weeks of intensive networking, mentoring and development, 10 companies have showcased their innovative fintech businesses at a ‘Demo Day’ in Cape Town, as the first-ever cohort of the Barclays Accelerator in Africa concluded. The three month fintech accelerator programme was hosted by Rise, Barclays Africa’s open innovation hub, in Cape Town.

The Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, is an intensive startup programme designed to capture, shape and scale the next generation of innovative fintech businesses. The programme draws upon mentors from across Barclays and the Techstars network.

An audience of more than 400 including investors, industry experts, fintech specialists, as well as Absa and Barclays executives attended the Demo Day to hear how the startups are tackling different challenges on the African continent and ultimately help shape the future of financial services across insurance, payments and agriculture.

Demo Day

Commenting on the programme, Head of Open Innovation at Barclays Africa, Paul Nel said: “As Barclays Africa we are committed to driving leading fintech innovation that translates into lifestyle-enabling products and services for our customers, and creates greater financial inclusion across the continent.”

“We are thrilled with the quality of the ventures. This first-ever cohort to participate in the Barclays Accelerator programme in Africa has set the bar very high. They richly deserve the opportunity to showcase their businesses at the Demo Day, and attempt to secure further investment and signed POCs.”

Yossi Hasson, Managing Director of Techstars in Cape Town added: “The Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars once again showed why it is the pre-eminent fintech accelerator in world. This Africa class will now join the Techstars global ecosystem which spans 15 000 community leaders, mentors, founders and investors across 137 countries.”

During the event the companies highlighted their impressions of the programme.

Asoriba (Ghana): “Depth is the word I will use to describe our experience in the Barclays Accelerator programme. With the help of the team, we have gone deeper into our business and have identified what we need to do to make it a success. Before now, we have been struggling to focus on our end-goal.

Thanks to great leadership of Yossi Hasson, MD of Techstars Cape Town, and the entire team, we have learnt to be excellent at what we do and dive deep into the clients’ needs. We also lacked knowledge around email marketing and how to keep a clean domain name. We actually had issues with our mass email provider. Techstars helped us fix these issues, signed us up on a new email service and helped us get our transactional and marketing emails up and running again,” said Nana Agyeman-Prempeh.

BenBen (Ghana): “For BenBen, this programme has been instrumental in growing our network and stakeholders that will participate in our initial launch with the Ghanaian government. With the advice from the mentors we have been able to expand our business model to include B2B services for banks, insurance providers, and real estate firms. BenBen aims to launch a pilot programme which will have a searchable digital map populated with data from the Lands Commission, Barclays Africa and BenBen surveyors to our initial users which will be Barclays Africa employees in Ghana,” said Emmanuel Noah.

Beyonic (Uganda and United States): “For Beyonic, participating in the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars gives us the ability to supercharge our business by fast-tracking our ability to work with the bank and the incredible Techstars network. By the end of the programme, we are looking to close several major deals with global financial institutions and position Beyonic for rapid growth in multiple markets,” said Luke Kyohere.

iNuka Pap (Kenya): “As one of the start-up companies going through the Barclays Accelerator, iNuka Pap is getting rich mentorship from the vast selection of experts. We are finding better, faster and more effective ways of running our business. In addition, we are making valuable partnerships with corporates that are strategically placed in the market. We have enhanced our company’s business in terms of market penetration and operations. We are confident in our product and hope we can use it to significantly improve the lifestyle of people living in rural Kenya,” said Waweru Kuria.

Jamii (Tanzania): “The Barclays Accelerator programme tops all my MBA studies put together. I have received the most direct training on running my business, predicting economies and matching it up in my business case, product design, financial modelling, marketing best practice and most of all made a lot of worthwhile connections while networking.

“The Barclays Accelerator programme has transformed me as an individual to a more confident entrepreneur. I understand my work and the worth of my business. I have improved my persona and most of all transformed our business. I hope to have found solutions to our acquisition problem and attract enough investors to expand my business in Tanzania and later grow in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana and South Africa,” said Lilian Charles Makoi.

ReAble (Lebanon): “Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars has provided us with an immense amount of help ranging from mentors to connecting us to major experts, executives and entrepreneurs in the fintech industry. The guidance and opportunities that we received here have accelerated our company further beyond what we expected to achieve. I would say three months of the programme is equivalent to three years’ worth of company standalone progress,” said Emile Sawaya.

SimbaPay (Kenya and Nigeria): “Two key value adds from participating in the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techsatrs are firstly learning from much wiser mentors and secondly, initiating great partnerships within the Techstars network. We expect to expand our remittance services leveraging Barclays Africa’s reach and SimbaPay’s agility. The programme also helped to sharpen our business strategy and execution, and to secure investment to support our growth plan,” said Enoch Nyasinga Onyancha.

Social Lender (Nigeria): “The programme has been extremely valuable to us as individuals and as a business. Completely eye-opening and the networking is out of this world. We hope to have a successful POC and begin preparation for a fully-fledged business partnership with Barclays Africa and scale very quickly,” said Faith Ekwebelam.

Tech4Farmers (Uganda): “To tap into the kind of network the programme has given us access to in just three months would otherwise have cost a lifetime of hard work. It’s priceless. We hope that we will be better positioned to give our customers a much-needed better experience in our field,” said Deogratious Afimani.

WizzPass (South Africa): “This programme has given us access to an extremely big network of individuals willing to help us through our business journey and enhance our chances of success. The knowledge gained has been immense, from master class sessions to interacting with fellow start-ups and mentors in the programme. We have concluded a successful POC with Barclays Africa as well as securing seed funding. We hope to enhance our traction in the corporate and retail sector,” said Bradley Hornby.

Hackathon to solve for innovative financial technology products and services that are affordable and accessible for low-income communities.

Rise Africa, part of Barclays’ global financial technology and innovation community, will host a hackathon in May focused on creating solutions to foster greater financial inclusion.

The hackathon is open to developers, designers, members of the financial industry, technology entrepreneurs and social innovators eager to unearth innovative financial technology products and services, that are both affordable and accessible for low-income communities.

Increasingly, governments, donors, and international financial institutions across the globe are recognising that access to financial services plays a pivotal role in poverty alleviation. Paul Nel, Head of Open Innovation at Barclays Africa, points out that the hackathon will specifically look to help develop affordable saving solutions, financial literacy, micro-credit and responsible lending, and micro-insurance.

“Teams will get to grips with what it means to be financially excluded, and then use their creativity to ideate, code and test their ideas through rapid prototyping, to meaningfully build bridges to reach the unbanked,” says Nel.

Hackathon participants will agree to a co-creation approach to collectively surface new ideas. Critically, the hackathon is not an isolated event. Rather it will culminate in deeper insights and ongoing partnerships.

“After all, ideas are simply conceptual until they are implemented. By pitching their ideas to stakeholders, the ideas can gain resonance and traction,” adds Nel.

The hackathon will be hosted at Rise in Woodstock, Cape Town from 6 to 7 May in partnership with the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation, IBM and Thomson Reuters.

Ten fintech companies start first-ever Barclays Accelerator programme in Africa

Ten businesses, aiming to shape the future of financial services will begin their journey on a 13-week intensive startup programme in Cape Town today.

The Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, is an intensive startup programme of networking, mentoring and development, aimed at supporting breakthrough financial technology (fintech) innovations.

It is the first time that the programme is being run in Africa. More than 450 start-ups from over 45 countries applied for one of the ten places on the programme. The chosen fintech companies range from a solution empowering the financial literacy and inclusion of people with special needs, to one that allows governments to convert physical land titles to digital copies on an irrefutable platform secured on the Blockchain.

The Barclays Accelerator is one of several innovation initiatives delivered by Rise. Created by Barclays, Rise exists to offer the ultimate conditions for innovation and growth in financial services. The ten companies will be based at the Rise innovation hub in Cape Town, launched in December and provides the optimum environment to network with and learn from likeminded individuals.

Innovation

“At Barclays Africa we recognise that to drive innovation within the bank, we also need to look outside the organisation and embrace the innovative start-up ecosystem. I am looking forward to working with these ten start-ups as we find increasingly innovative ways to help Africa prosper,” said Paul Nel, Head of Open Innovation at Barclays Africa.

“We are thrilled to be in partnership with Barclays Africa on this fintech accelerator, which represents Techstars’ first foray into the African continent,” said Greg Rogers, Executive Director at Techstars.

“We firmly believe that some of the most disruptive technologies to financial services will come from African entrepreneurs as their thinking will not be trapped within the confines of legacy bank infrastructure and products. African entrepreneurs are literally reinventing banking for their communities, and Techstars and Barclays Africa are here to help them on that important journey,” added Rogers.

The Barclays Accelerator programme will culminate in a Demo Day at the end of June where the companies will present their businesses to prospective investors.

Absa will be conducting a system upgrade from 22:00 on Saturday, 9 April 2016 to approximately 08:00 on Sunday, 10 April 2016.

The upgrade allows us to improve the long-term stability of our online banking channels, providing our customers with an even better banking experience.

While Absa Online, our Mobile Banking capability and our App will be unavailable during the upgrade, our customers will be able to withdraw cash from ATMs and swipe their debit, cheque and credit card for purchases during the upgrade.

We have communicated the planned upgrade to our customers, and will keep them updated on absa.co.za, Twitter and Facebook.

Customers are welcome to contact us on 08600 08600 with any enquiries.

For media queries, please contact us at:
PRMedia@absa.co.za
or
Carli Cooke at 083 652 7371