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

Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) wishes to reiterate that we remain committed to Africa, where we continue to be optimistic about our growth prospects, and to operate in the normal course of business.

UK-based Barclays PLC, which owns 62.3% of Barclays Africa, yesterday said it continues to evaluate its strategic options in relation to its shareholding in Barclays Africa Group Limited and expects to update the market at the time of its 2015 full-year results announcement on 1 March.

Barclays Africa is an independently-listed entity on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, regulated by the South African Reserve Bank and we are well capitalised with a track record of strong returns.

Maria Ramos, Barclays Africa Group Chief Executive says: “We continue to offer a full and integrated range of products and services to more than 12 million customers in 12 countries across Africa and our customers can be just as confident doing business with us today as they have always been. With an independent board and a separate listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange we are deeply rooted in Africa and remain firmly in control of our future.”

In 2013, Barclays Africa was established as a leading African bank when 12 banks across the continent were brought together.

“In doing so, we put the future of this organisation firmly in our own hands,” Ms Ramos said.

Barclays Africa Group Limited is the majority (in some cases sole) shareholder of the BAGL operations in South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Ghana, Zambia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda and Tanzania (Barclays Bank Tanzania Limited and National Bank of Commerce Limited). Any announcement relating to Barclays PLC’s shareholding in BAGL does not impact the shareholding and ownership of these operations.

“We continue to be optimistic about our prospects in Africa, where we have a strong franchise with assets of over R1 trillion. We are deeply committed to the success of our continent. Our destiny is in Africa,” Ms Ramos says.

Barclays PLC and Barclays Africa Group Limited will announce their 2015 financial results tomorrow.

Salient features

• Diluted headline earnings per share increased 10% to R16.86
• Dividend per share of R10 up 8%.
• Rest of Africa headline earnings grew 17% to R2.3bn and South Africa rose 8% to R12bn.
• Return on Equity improved to 17.0% from 16.7%.
• Pre-provision profit increased 8% to R29.5bn.
• Revenue grew 6% to R67.2bn, as net interest income increased 8% and non-interest income rose 5%, while operating expenses grew 5% to R37.7bn.
• Credit impairments increased 10% to R6.9bn resulting in a 1.05% credit loss ratio from 1.02%.
• Barclays Africa Group Limited’s CET1 ratio of 11.9% remains above regulatory requirements and our board target range.

Barclays Africa Group Limited (‘Barclays Africa’ or ‘the Group’) today announced a 10% increase in headline earnings for the year ended 31 December 2015, delivering a solid performance underpinned by a three-year strategy implemented in 2014.

Maria Ramos, Chief Executive of Barclays Africa Group Limited says: “We delivered solid results, demonstrating that our strategy is working. Our ambition to be Africa’s leading bank remains unchanged. We are a strong, well-capitalised and independently funded business that is uniquely positioned to achieve our goals across the continent.”

Group headline earnings increased to R14.3 billion on the back of increased income while costs remained well managed.

Costs increased by only 5%, even as the group continued to make appropriate investments in our infrastructure to deliver material improvements to our service.

Return on equity improved to 17%, the highest level since 2008 and Barclays Africa is now top three by revenue in four of our five largest markets; that is, South Africa, Botswana, Ghana and Zambia. We are gaining revenue traction in key focus areas across geographies and businesses and we have seen strong loan growth in the right areas.

Retail and Business Banking (RBB), the group’s largest business unit, continued its turnaround and had another strong year with headline earnings growing 14%, playing a key role in driving overall Barclays Africa growth. RBB recorded solid revenue growth and managed costs well. The continued improvement in the quality of the home loans book and a strong collections performance in personal loans resulted in lower credit impairment. RBB’s non-interest income rose 7%.

“We added 855,000 new-to-bank customers in 2015 – an achievement that I am particularly pleased with,” says Ms Ramos. “Our RBB unit continues to make good progress in its turnaround and we have had one of our strongest revenue months on record in January 2016,” Ms Ramos says.

Improvements in the branch network and other channels, supported by investments in mobile and other technologies supported RBB’s progress.

In Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), headline earnings increased 6% to R3.9 billion. The group’s pan-African strategy is working, with CIB’s business outside of South Africa increasing to now account for 37% of overall earnings, demonstrating that clients are seeing the benefit of the group’s integrated regional presence.

Wealth, Investment Management and Insurance (WIMI) delivered strong growth in headline earnings, increasing 11%. The WIMI offering was expanded into East Africa, with the launch of Barclays Life Assurance Kenya and the acquisition of a controlling stake in First Assurance, which also gives the group scale and presence in Tanzania.

While the commodity downturn and reduced economic growth weakened general sentiment towards the continent, Barclays Africa’s operations in the rest of Africa performed well and enhanced group growth. This shows that creating the Barclays Africa group in 2013 is working.

Revenue from operations outside of South Africa increased to 14% while headline earnings grew 17%. Operations outside of South Africa accounted for just over a fifth of revenue during 2015 and earnings growth in this region should continue to exceed those of South Africa. There is a clear path to increasing return on equity from those operations.

While the focus of the numbers we released today is on financial performance, this is only one component of our success as a business.

Barclays Africa has adopted a Shared Growth approach which for us, means generating a positive impact on society while delivering shareholder value.

Last year, the group launched ReadyToWork in seven countries across Africa and will continue the rollout in 2016. This initiative, helping to bridge the gap between the world of education and the world of work for African youth, is part of a much wider commitment to African society under our shared growth philosophy.

“We are proud to announce today that we will spend R1.4 billion over the next three years as we place increased emphasis on helping to address some of the biggest challenges facing our continent: joblessness, poverty, rising inequality and exclusion from access to education and financial services,” Ms Ramos says. “As Africa prospers, so will we.”

Barclays Africa is systemically important in most of the countries in which we operate and the company makes a significant economic contribution across the continent. In 2015, Barclays Africa paid R7.3 billion in taxes and provided employment for close to 42,000 people. We spent nearly R15 billion supporting more than 5,000 suppliers, including 1,200 small and medium enterprises.

“In conclusion, there is no doubt that the three-year strategy that we embarked on in 2014 has placed us in a stronger position than before to deliver on shareholder expectations and to play a broader role in society,” Ms Ramos says. “In Barclays Africa Group, we have built a strong and resilient franchise.”

An increasingly tough and volatile economic period will impact on the group’s ability to deliver against our targets in the year ahead. In South Africa, Barclays Africa’s largest market, the company expects 0.9% GDP growth this year, with downside risks from drought and electricity shortages.

Our balance sheet is, however, well positioned for this deteriorating macro environment given our highest level of portfolio provisions, our lowest non-performing loans since 2005, and strong capital ratios and liquidity.

In 2013, when Absa acquired the majority of Barclays PLC’s operations in Africa, a leading African bank was created.

“We continue to offer a full and integrated range of products and services to more than 12 million customers in 12 countries across Africa and our customers can be just as confident doing business with us today as they have always been. With an independent board and a separate listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange we are deeply rooted in Africa and remain firmly in control of our future,” Ms Ramos says.

“We continue to be optimistic about our prospects in Africa, where we have a strong franchise with assets of over R1 trillion. We are deeply committed to the success of our continent. Our destiny is in Africa,” Ms Ramos says.

• Education and Skills – spend R1.4bn in education and skills development targeting the youth
• Enterprise Development – enable access to affordable finance for SMEs by raising R1.3bn through corporate supply and distribution chains using innovative technology
• Financial Inclusion – enable digital and non-digital access to underserved consumers through real banking and value-add products and services to promote wider convenient access to financial services.

Johannesburg, 4 July 2016 – Barclays Africa today reaffirmed its commitment to economic and socio-economic growth on the continent through its Shared Growth Strategy, pledging (1) R1.4 billion to improve skills development and access to quality education, (2) to raise R1.3bn to help small and medium-sized African businesses succeed and grow, and (3) to ensure that more people have access to digital and non-digital financial services across the continent.

Speaking at a press briefing in Johannesburg, Maria Ramos, Barclays Africa Group Chief Executive said “Shared Growth for us means having a positive impact on society and delivering shareholder value, the two are not mutually exclusive. We are applying our substantial resources to provide innovative commercial products, services and partnerships to build a more equitable and prosperous Africa for the next generation.”

When our customers and clients do well, so do we. When the communities where we live and work thrive, we do too. And when society prospers, we all do. But only if we work together – private public partnerships are the key to tackling some of society’s biggest challenges – to deliver on growth opportunities. “We believe a business can only be successful if it connects positively and creates value with the society in which it operates in,” added Ramos.

Shared value

Shared Growth is based on creating shared value. It emphasises the connections between societal and economic progress, showing that they are mutually dependent, and when unleashed can stimulate substantial growth. Companies can, and indeed should, develop deep links between their business strategies and approach towards citizenship. Similarly in South Africa there is the Kings III which advocates for ensuring business drive an integrated approach to business growth, ensuring there is the triple bottom line

We recognise that there is a virtuous link between society’s progress and our own success, and we therefore continually seek opportunities to be a good corporate citizen, and contribute to the societies in which we operate in a meaningful way.

As part of the Shared Growth Strategy, Barclays Africa today announced the appointment of a Shared Growth Advisory Council. “We realise that making a meaningful contribution to economies and society is about shared value and shared opinion. We are proud to partner with industry leaders, civil society and government who will play a role in ensuring our contributions are meaningful and that our impact is sustainable,” added Ramos.

Performance highlights:

• Headline earnings grew 7% to R7.25bn supported by strong pre-provision profit growth of 19%.
• Diluted headline earnings per share increased 7% to 856.7c.
• Interim dividend per share of 460c.
• Headline earnings in South Africa rose 3% to R5.9bn and rest of Africa rose 33% to R1.3bn.
• Pre-provision profit increased 19.1% to R17bn.
• Revenue grew 13% to R36.5bn as net interest income increased 14% and non-interest income rose 10%, while operating expenses grew 7% to R19.5bn.
• Credit impairments increased 46% to R5.2bn resulting in a 1.29% credit loss ratio up from 0.97%.
• Return on Equity declined marginally to 16.1% from 16.4%.
• Tier 1 Capital (CET1) ratio of 12.1% remains above regulatory requirements and our Board target range.

Barclays Africa Group Limited (“Barclays Africa” or “Group”) today announced strong half-year results for the period ending 30 June 2016, in line with market expectations. These results demonstrate that our strategy continues to deliver and is resilient to the challenging economic environment. We continue to make progress on our commitments.

“Our strategy continues to deliver strong results and is proving resilient in a challenging economic environment. Ours is a proudly African bank deeply committed to Shared Growth across our continent.”

Maria Ramos
Chief Executive, Barclays Africa Group Limited

Summary of results:

Headline earnings increased 7% to R7.25bn supported by strong pre-provision profit growth of 19%. It is important to focus on the core underlying results as Rand weakness added 3% to the Group’s revenue and cost growth.

Revenue grew 13% while a focus on cost management saw operating costs increase only 7% despite ongoing investment in new technologies, people and infrastructure.

The Rest of Africa business continued to grow faster than the South Africa business.

As expected, credit impairments increased due to provisions for single name impairments in the Corporate and Investment Bank, and additional coverage built in the South Africa Home Loans portfolio.

The Group continues to make progress on its commitments.

• Revenue from the Rest of Africa business increased to 23% of total revenue, well within the target range of 20-25%.
• Maintained Top 3 status by revenue in 4 of the 5 largest markets: South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, and Botswana.
• Cost-to-Income ratio improved to 53.4% from 55.9%, showing good progression towards the medium-term target of the low 50s.
• Return on Equity (ROE) of 16.1% which is marginally down over the prior year in line with our guidance, and remains short of the medium-term target of 18-20%.

Although these are strong results there are a number of factors that pose significant downside risks.

In South Africa, business confidence remains weak, and the combination of weak job growth, higher inflation and rising interest rates have placed a strain on consumer finances. GDP growth in South Africa is expected to continue to weaken in 2016 and recover slowly in 2017.

Similarly, average GDP growth in the Rest of Africa presence countries is expected to be the lowest since 2002.

Business Unit Performance Highlights

• The Retail and Business Bank (RBB) franchise continues to deliver strong results. Headline earnings are up 10% on prior year to R4.9bn as pre-provision profit increased by 13%.
  RBB delivered healthy growth in a number of areas. Non-interest income increased 7% as strong Card growth offset moderate transactional revenue growth, and the business saw an increase of 16% in loans in the Rest of Africa.
  As previously noted, impairments are rising across a number of portfolios, notably in South Africa Home Loans.
  The core South Africa Retail franchise added 410k new-to-bank customers in the first half and now serves 8.9 million customers.
• The Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) made good progress on expanding the Corporate Bank in the Rest of Africa. Headline earnings are up 7% on prior year to R2.0bn supported by strong revenue growth and a 45% increase in pre-provision profit, offset by a material increase in single name impairments and higher portfolio provisions.
  The Rest of Africa now contributes roughly half of total CIB headline earnings in line with the strategy.
  The Rest of Africa Corporate business increased income by 36% supported by strong advances growth, improved margins, and increased transactional volumes.
• The Wealth, Investment Management & Insurance (WIMI) business continued to grow. However, headline earnings are down 8% on prior year to R690mn despite a 13% growth in Life Insurance in South Africa. The decline in earnings is driven primarily by a change in reserving requirements in some markets outside South Africa, and lower market returns.
  WIMI made good progress in growing revenue with net premium income up 19% and fee income up 9%.
  The investment management business continued to win institutional mandates which resulted in R11bn of net inflows during the half.
  In a challenging half year WIMI achieved an ROE of 23% and remains an attractive cash-generative business.

This strong performance in the first half demonstrates the value of a well-diversified Group and positions the business well for sustainable growth going forward.

Shared Growth

In March, Barclays Africa announced its commitment to Shared Growth which is central to the business strategy. Clear and ambitious goals have been set across three pillars:

• Invest R1.4 billion in education and skills development over the next three years.
• Raise R1.3 billion for Small and Medium Enterprise funding this year.
• Offer financial inclusion to half a million people this year.

A number of Shared Growth initiatives have been launched which will accelerate during the rest of the year.

Barclays PLC Divestment

Following their announcement on 1 March, Barclays PLC continues to explore strategic and capital market opportunities to reduce its shareholding in Barclays Africa to achieve regulatory deconsolidation.

The first sale tranche of 12.2% was successfully concluded on 5 May and reduced Barclays PLC’s shareholding to 50.1%.

Barclays Africa continues to work closely with Barclays PLC, including planning for the operational separation of the two businesses in order to preserve value for all stakeholders. Barclay Africa and Barclays PLC continue to engage with regulators as the divestment process is subject to all relevant regulatory approvals.

The seasonally adjusted Barclays Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose by 3.2 points to reach 49.5 index points in September. The September reading, as well as the average for the third quarter, are below the neutral 50-point mark. In fact, the average reading in the third quarter is well below the second quarter average. This suggests a slowdown in actual quarter-on-quarter manufacturing production growth after a solid performance in the second quarter.

Four out of the five main PMI subcomponents increased in September. Nonetheless, only the business activity and suppliers’ performance indices came in above 50 points. The new sales orders index continued to point to subdued demand. In contrast, the inventories index ticked higher in September and edged back above the level of the new sales orders index. This means that the PMI leading indicator is below one, which does not bode well for output growth going forward. The employment index declined in September and fell below 50 for the first time since June.

On a positive note, the index tracking expected business conditions in six months’ time increased notably to 63.8 points. This was the third straight increase and the index is now at the highest level since the start of 2015. The more upbeat sentiment could be driven by less pressure on costs. Indeed, the price index fell for a third straight month to the lowest level in almost six years.

This is likely driven by the rand exchange rate remaining relatively firm from August to September and two consecutive months of declining fuel prices. In addition, despite of the slightly stronger rand exchange rate of late, respondents still reported higher export orders. On the domestic front, some manufacturers may benefit from an expected turnaround in the agriculture sector as the impact of the drought diminishes.

Barclays Africa Group is pleased to announce the appointment of new agencies to handle its significant business across the continent. Specifically, FCB Africa will handle its corporate, brand, sponsorship, retail and insurance advertising portfolios, and Mortimer Harvey will handle its business to business advertising portfolio.

Barclays Africa offers a full and integrated range of products and services to more than 12 million customers in 12 countries across Africa. We have a strong franchise with assets of over R1 trillion, and are deeply committed to the success of our continent. Partnering with these two renowned agencies, FCB Africa and Mortimer Harvey, is a key step on our journey.

A continent-wide strategic evaluation of over 50 top agencies in Africa informed our decision, overseen by Yardstick who are an independent firm specialising in the provision of measurement and assurance services to the advertising industry. The review included a rigorous internal and external governance process.

Commitment to Africa

Group Executive, Marketing and Corporate Relations, Bobby Malabie, said: “As we continue to focus our business and commitment to Africa, the evolution to a new agency model is critical. Both FCB Africa and Mortimer Harvey demonstrated an impressive understanding of our business requirements and are committed to building a market leading partnership model with us. FCB Africa and Mortimer Harvey boast enviable credentials and awards, and we look forward to building on these together”

“We also saw this as an opportunity to drive a greater focus on transformation in the advertising industry, and our new agencies, FCB Africa and Mortimer Harvey, have demonstrated their commitment in this area. We look forward to engaging further with the broader advertising industry on some of our more specialist requirements to further improve transformation within the industry” he added.

Barclays Africa would also like to thank its incumbent agencies for the long standing and highly valued relationships. Over the last decade the partnerships have achieved both business and creative success.