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.

Applications have opened for the Barclays Accelerator programme, powered by Techstars, an initiative aimed at uncovering the next M-Pesa or Paypal by working with exceptional fintech entrepreneurs innovating Africa’s financial services industry.

This collaboration between Barclays Africa and Techstars offers a game-changing opportunity to 10 qualifying fintech startups, which will take part in a 13-week programme beginning in May next year, based out of the Rise fintech innovation hub in Woodstock, Cape Town.

The Barclays Accelerator first came to Africa at the beginning of this year and was a significant success, with Barclays Africa signing initial collaboration agreements with 7 of the 10 startups that were part of the programme.

Tremendous potential

Yasaman Hadjibashi, leading the innovation agenda for the bank says: “Africa has tremendous untapped potential to not only pioneer its own creative solutions for its unique contexts but to also create solutions that the rest of the world can adopt for their own contexts.”

According to the Disrupt Africa African Startups Funding Report 2015, 29% of investment in African tech startups goes to those focused on fintech, suggesting a substantial opportunity for innovative ventures in the sector.

Selected startups will be given the opportunity to enter or expand their presence in the African marketplace via Barclays Africa Group’s customer, product, and technology teams. Leveraging the global footprint of Rise, the selected startups will also have the chance to scale globally through Rise sites in London, New York, Mumbai, Tel Aviv and Vilnius. The Accelerator offers companies an advantage over others by providing a proven curriculum, and lifelong access to the Techstars global network of mentors, investors and venture capitalists.

Yossi Hasson, Managing Director of Techstars says: “I truly believe that being part of Techstars gives companies such an advantage when it comes to scaling globally. The depth of experience that the Techstars team and global mentor network has in working with and investing in over 900 start-ups is unprecedented for the African continent. The Accelerator pushes for one year’s worth of traction in three months. At the end, your company won’t come out the same, regardless of stage.”

Fintech companies can apply here: https://www.f6s.com/barclaysaccelerator-africa by February 5th, 2017 for this opportunity to take their venture to new heights. If you’d like to find out more, please visit: http://www.barclaysaccelerator.com/#/cape-town/ or contact emily.skinstad@techstars.com

Barclays Africa Group Limited (Barclays Africa) crowned Markit Opportunity the Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge champion at a panel submission judging event held at The Bandwidth Barn Accelerator in Cape Town last night. The pan-African challenge, under the Rise in Africa umbrella, which launched in July, invited teams of innovators to submit ideas to redefine the supply chain process and enable economic growth across Africa.

Represented by their CEO and Founder Ashley King-Bischof, Markit Opportunity, from Kenya, triumphed over four other innovative finalists, by demonstrating a scalable solution to improve incomes of smallholder farmers.

Markit Opportunity incentivises regional trade by leveraging mobile technology and logistics to create trusted, transparent and efficient supply chains. The company provides a mobile platform that connects traders in urban markets to farmers with real-time supply and demand statistics, as well as market related pricing.

Judging panel

The judging panel of industry experts including Erik Hersman, CEO of BRCK, Teju Ajani, regional content partnerships lead for YouTube and Ian Merrington, CEO of the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative vigorously engaged the five finalists as they presented their concepts.

“When it came to selection process, the very high calibre of submissions provided some testing conversations for the judging panel. Today’s finalists are a great reflection of the rich vein of innovation emanating from the African continent,” says Ashley Veasey, CIO, Barclays Africa and judging panel member.

Markit Opportunity will receive $10 000 in support of their venture. In addition the judges were also so impressed by the Nigerian entrepreneur Job Oyebisi, representing Freshmart, that they awarded his idea a special prize of $5 000. The Freshmart App for Provenance will leverage the blockchain, enabling customers to track the provenance – the chronology of the ownership – of the produce they want to purchase.

Mentorship

In addition to their financial support both winners will receive mentorship from a Barclays Africa executive to help them kick-start their venture.

The Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge, which closed in September, was the first of several initiatives being extended into Africa through Rise with the aim to spark ideas to drive the digital evolution on the continent. Interested parties are invited to follow @ThinkRiseAfrica and visit http://www.thinkrise.com for information on other Rise initiatives

The Banking Association South Africa (The Banking Association), on behalf of all member banks, unequivocally condemns the xenophobic attacks carried out on people from different countries on the African continent and some Asian countries.

South Africa prides itself on standing at the forefront of promoting Africa as a continent of opportunity, a continent that is ready to receive private sector investment and promote African unity and collaboration. These are all critical to the continent achieving its potential and promoting the role emerging economies such as ours should be playing in global affairs.

South Africa has made significant progress in developing its economy and offers opportunities to citizens from all over the world to contribute to that growth. We need skills and investment to contribute to inclusive growth that benefits our population. Foreign investment and skills from different parts of the world are critical contributors to this. The xenophobic tendencies displayed currently inhibit both the attraction of skills and investment.

The vast majority of people who choose to make South Africa their home, particularly those from Africa and Asia, are productive people who often create small businesses, employ South Africans and introduce innovative business practices that add value to the overall development of enterprise in South Africa.

The South African banking sector condemns the attacks on foreign nationals.

Rise, in partnership with Barclays Africa Group Ltd (Barclays Africa), landed the ‘Collaborative Innovation Winner’ award at the My World of Tomorrow SA Innovation Awards held at the Sandton Convention Centre last night. The awards recognise and celebrate innovative companies and individuals. Rise is a physical and virtual global community for open innovation designed to help shape the future of financial services.

“Globally, Barclays has a rich heritage of innovation. This latest accolade further demonstrates how Barclays Africa is positioned to harness change. Our customers and clients are demanding innovative solutions, and to keep pace and meet their needs, we need to change the way we think and operate. It is with this ethos in mind that we created Rise in Africa,” says Ashley Veasey, Chief Information Officer at Barclays Africa.

In addition to its presence in the virtual environment, Rise currently has physical innovation hubs in London, Manchester and New York. Its first hub in the Southern Hemisphere will open in Cape Town in December.

Over 5 000 start-ups have interacted through the London and Manchester hubs in the first year alone, while more than 20 hackathons have been hosted and in excess of 130 companies have made use of the global sites. Rise Cape Town is set to enable Africans to connect, co-create and scale the next big thing in financial services.

“Africa has the ability to use technology to leapfrog other regions as it is unencumbered by legacy systems and hard infrastructure that is slow to innovate. Rise helps to empower entrepreneurs to accelerate trends that are already dramatically improving lives across the continent,” concluded Veasey.

Barclays Africa Group Limited (Barclays Africa) has selected the five finalists of the Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge from a strong field of competition, following the launch of the challenge in Kenya in July. The challenge set out to uncover ideas to relook at the traditional approach to how the supply chain operates in Africa.

The judging panel, which will be hosted at Bandwidth Barn, Cape Town, on 3 November 2015, will include the following industry experts:

• Erik Hersman, CEO of BRCK, Teju Ajani, regional content partnerships lead for YouTube
• Ian Merrington, CEO of the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative,
• Andrew Baker, CIO for Corporate Investment Banking and Payments at Barclays Africa.

“We were delighted with the response to the challenge and the quality of submissions. The concept judged to be the Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge champion will indeed be a worthy recipient of the $10 000 funding. In addition, Barclays will facilitate mentorship to help guide the growth of their concept over the coming months,” says Ashley Veasey, CIO, Barclays Africa.

One of these finalists profiled below will be crowned the 2015 Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge champion.

1. Freshmart App for Provenance
Freshmart is an online platform that directly connects rural farmers to food produce retailers and consumers. The Freshmart App for Provenance is an accompanying application that, through information recorded using blockchain, enables customers to research or review the conditions in which the produce they want to purchase was grown, sourced, handled, packaged and transported.

2. Catch Counterfeits
The Catch Counterfeits solution uses RFID and blockchain technology to ensure a seamless and transparent flow of pharmaceutical products from production to the customer, blocking all potential loopholes and negating the potential for resale or the introduction of faux medicines.

3. Farm Inputs Authentication
Farm Inputs Authentication uses smart contracts to track the distribution of fertilizer, pesticides and seed, as well as verify and authenticate their origin. Lack of efficiency in the fertilizer and seed value chain has led to the suffering of a lot of sub-Saharan farmers. This solution seeks to track the distribution of fertilizer and seed (from source to farmer), and authenticate it on receipt. The solution also seeks to track farm products from ‘farm to fork’.

4. Markit Opportunity
Markit Opportunity is a social enterprise that improves the incomes of smallholder farmers in the East African community, and incentivises regional trade by leveraging mobile technology and logistics innovation to create trusted, transparent and coordinated supply chains. The platform verifies crop data and offers trading opportunities through a novel, double-sided auction platform that guarantees traders high quality produce at competitive market prices.

5. Solutech Distribution Application
Solutech Distribution App is a mobile and web-based application that enables manufacturers to track their products from the warehouse to the shop front, replacing manual processes and helping achieve visibility and efficiency in the distribution process for manufacturing companies.

The Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge, which closed on 26 September 2015, was the first of several initiatives being extended into Africa with the aim to spark ideas to drive the digital evolution on the continent. Interested parties are invited to follow @ThinkRiseAfrica and visit http://www.thinkrise.com for information on this and other Barclays’ initiatives.

Africa’s innovators and start-ups will have the ability to scale their ideas in new markets following the launch today of Rise, a physical and virtual global community that facilitates collaboration and fintech innovation.

Funded by the Barclays, Rise is ideally positioned to take advantage of technology solutions that are not reliant on physical infrastructure. This is particularly relevant in the African context. It provides developing markets with an opportunity to leapfrog ageing analogue infrastructure, deployed in most developed economies, and with it the capacity to solve some of Africa’s development challenges.

Paradigm shift

The ability to bring scale to new ideas has long been at the centre of the Barclays proposition. By connecting the world’s most active innovation ecosystems, Barclays is confident that Rise can assist in co-creating ground-breaking products and services with entrepreneurs from across the continent.

“The financial services industry is undergoing a paradigm shift and new tech start-ups are challenging traditional business models,” says Ashley Veasey, Chief Information Officer of Barclays Africa. “This is possible, in principle, because advances in technology are enabling bright minds to develop solutions that compete with the best of those developed by big corporates. We aim to partner and collaborate at the forefront of this change.”

In addition to the connected digital network, Rise has physical innovation hubs in London, Manchester and New York, and is set to open one in Cape Town in December. With over 5 000 start-ups interacting through the Rise London and Manchester hubs in the first year alone, over 20 hackathons being hosted and over 130 companies having made use of the global sites, Rise Cape Town is set to enable Africans to connect, co-create and scale the next big thing in financial services.

Able to broaden network further

“Rise is about connecting the world’s most active innovators to each other, to corporates and to resources and by expanding to another continent means we’re able to broaden this network further,” says Derek White, Barclays Chief Design and Digital Officer and architect of the global Rise programme.

“We’re unlocking the power of open innovation to co-create the future of financial services, which will ultimately benefit customers and clients across the globe,” added White.

The Cape Town hub will be home to a number of open innovation programmes and includes co-working facilities, a world-class events space, and a bespoke setting for the Barclays Accelerator programme.

Applications are now open for the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars

Several Rise initiatives are already underway in Africa, namely the Tech Lab Africa programme and the Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge while applications are now open to companies wanting to participate in the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars.

This programme offers innovators and entrepreneurs unprecedented access to leading thinkers at Barclays and to Techstars’ mentor and investor relationships across 14 locations. This latest Barclays Accelerator programme follows successful programmes in London and New York.

“The three-month intensive programme has been designed to accelerate new fintech businesses in delivering breakthrough products to market,” says Veasey. “What we’re offering companies is a seat within a best-in-class accelerator programme, which in turn affords access to data, technology and intensive mentoring from industry experts and key decision makers.”

Demo Day

The programme will culminate in a ‘Demo Day’ to an audience that comprises industry leaders, serial entrepreneurs, senior executives and corporate partners.

“We are excited to launch our third accelerator programme with Barclays which will provide new opportunities to companies interested in leveraging the Cape Town fintech community as well as the larger Barclays and Techstars ecosystems. Barclays has become a true innovation partner to Techstars and is deeply committed to spreading fintech innovation worldwide,” says David Brown, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Techstars.

Applications are now open until 10 January 2016. The programme will begin on 28 March 2016 with the ‘Demo Days’ scheduled for June 2016.

Barclays Africa Group Limited announces the appointment of Nomkhita Nqweni as Chief Executive of Wealth, Investment Management and Insurance (WIMI) with effect from 1 October 2015.

Commenting on the appointment, Barclays Africa Chief Executive Officer Maria Ramos said, “Nomkhita has been instrumental in integrating the Wealth and Investment Management businesses and her appointment shows our continued commitment to developing and recognising talent within our organisation. Nomkhita brings skill and diversity to this important role and will continue to build on the solid franchise the WIMI division has become.”

Nomkhita, who will replace Willie Lategan, is currently Barclays Africa Chief Executive of Wealth and Investment Management, responsible for circa R268 billion of assets under management.

In her new role, Nomkhita will be responsible for the Absa Life, short-term insurance, fiduciary and distribution businesses in addition to her current portfolio which includes wealth advisory, stockbroking and asset management.

Nomkhita has been a member of the Barclays Africa executive committee since 2013 and chairs the Group’s Diversity and Inclusion Council. She will report to Maria Ramos, Barclays Africa Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to joining Barclays Africa in 2010, Nomkhita was Managing Director of Alexander Forbes Financial Services Holdings Ltd (Africa).

African banking group becomes the first on the continent to join the global R3 blockchain consortium

The financial services industry is awash with disruptive technologies and banks across the world are clamouring to embrace these in order to ensure they remain relevant and competitive. One such disruption is blockchain – a distributed ledger technology that many believe has the potential to change financial services as profoundly as the internet changed media and entertainment.

Among the local front-runners who are experimenting with blockchain on a significant scale is Absa Bank Ltd (Absa), member of the Barclays Africa Group Limited (Barclays Africa). Today it became the first African banking group to join the global R3 blockchain consortium – a financial innovation firm that has partnered with 42 of the world’s leading banks to design and deliver advanced distributed ledger technologies to global financial markets.

On the back of this membership Absa will be hosting a collaboration with several other South African banks to develop the continent’s first distributed ledger-based banking solution. The aim of this working group will be to build blockchain-based solutions that address common financial services needs, with the resulting intellectual property being shared by all participating banks.

Huge potential

Ashley Veasey, CIO at Barclays Africa , points out that while this initiative is probably the first of its kind in terms of technology innovation within financial services in Africa, such collaboration is critical to unlocking the value that blockchain could hold for trade in Africa.

Andrew Baker, CIO for Corporate and Investment Banking at Barclays Africa, says: “We see huge potential for financial institutions in Africa to embrace disruptive technologies like blockchain, and use them to empower individuals and improve the lives of their customers. However, its true value will only be realised if we work together to co-develop and share solutions to common problems.

“Blockchain is still maturing and has yet to gain the trust of financial institutions and consumers alike. But if and when it happens, widespread adoption will happen quickly. Change is currently focused on disruptive innovation but will become more mainstream as industry alliances such as R3 and regulatory acceptance grows.”

Baker adds that the Barclays Africa has been experimenting with blockchain for some time. In mid-2015 it launched an Africa-wide blockchain Supply Chain Challenge through its Rise innovation initiative. It also co-hosted the second Blockchain and Bitcoin Africa Conference in February this year, and currently has more than ten blockchain-based experiments and research initiatives that are being piloted within the bank.