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.

First combined results, delivers encouraging financial momentum

Salient features

• Diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased 14% to R1 396,6 cents.
• Pre-provision profit increased 5% to R26 billion.
• Return on equity (RoE) increased to 15,5% from 14,1%.
• Declared a final dividend per share (DPS) of 470 cents, taking the total to 820 cents, up 20%
• Paid a special DPS of 708 cents.
• Revenue grew 8% to R59,4 billion.
• Net interest margin (on average interest-bearing assets) rose to 4,48% from 4,28%.
• Non-interest income increased 5% to R27,1 billion and accounted for 45,5% of total revenue.
• Operating expenses grew 10% to R33.4bn, increasing our cost-to-income ratio to 56,3% from 55,2%.
• Loans and advances to customers grew 7% to R605.3 billion, while deposits due to customers increased 8% to R588,0 billion.
• Credit impairments declined 21% to R7,0 billion, resulting in a 1,20% credit loss ratio from 1,60%.
• Non-performing loans (NPLs) improved to 4,7% of gross loans and advances to customers from 5,9%.
• Return on risk-weighted assets (RoRWA) increased to 2,18% and return on assets (RoA) improved to 1,29% from 2,09% and 1,17% respectively.
• Net asset value (NAV) per share improved to 9 125 cents, due to paying R11,6 billion in dividends during the period.
• Barclays Africa’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital adequacy ratio was 11,9%, well above regulatory requirements and our Board targets.

Tuesday 11 February 2014 – Barclays Africa Group Limited (Barclays Africa) today outlined its medium-term strategy for growth as it reported financial results, for the first time as a combined entity, which showed encouraging signs of momentum. This is an important landmark in the continued development of the Barclays Africa franchise, which reflects its unique platform, combining a powerful local bank, a powerful regional bank and a powerful global bank.

Maria Ramos, Chief Executive of Barclays Africa, said: “We met our key commitments to the market with improved credit quality and robust cost containment although revenue growth remained challenging. The Barclays Africa deal gives us access to markets with good growth prospects and I’m confident that we have the right strategy in place to capture this opportunity.”

Barclays Africa’s headline earnings increased 14% to R11 843 million and attributable profit grew 20% to R11 981 million. This was largely on the back of improved credit impairments, particularly in retail mortgages and commercial property finance. Despite substantial investment spend, improved revenue growth in the second half produced a 5% increase in pre-provision profit to R26,0 billion.

After considering regulatory changes, the Group’s strong capital position, strategic plans and near-term business objectives, a total ordinary dividend per share of 820 cents was declared.

Barclays Africa today outlined targets in line with its strategy to become the ‘Go-To’ bank and a strategic partner for African development by defining its objectives for the next three years, including:

• Be in the top three banks by revenue in South Africa and in our four largest markets outside of South Africa, Ghana, Botswana, Zambia and Kenya.
• Increase its RoE to between 18 – 20%.
• Reduce its cost to income ratio to low 50s
• Increase our businesses revenue share from outside South Africa to 20 – 25%.

Maria Ramos adds: “The creation of Barclays Africa is a crucial strategic play; very few other banks can claim this kind of franchise and our strategy is built around leveraging this competitive advantage. Where we use this leverage to deliver for the benefit of our customers, clients and shareholders is where we become the ‘Go To’ bank in Africa. We have a clear set of deliverables to create a truly pan-African franchise. The financial performance we report this morning is an early indicator that we are on track.”

Barclays Africa also outlined four priorities to transform its business to take full advantage of the benefits from its strategy and platform. First is the successful turnaround programme for Barclays Africa’s retail and business banking franchise in South Africa, and the build out across the continent to regain its leading position in the retail market. Second is Barclays Africa’s continued investment in Corporate Banking to expand its footprint across Africa and third is to capture the growth opportunity in its Wealth and Investment Management businesses. Barclays Africa will continue to develop and invest in talent.

These priorities will be underpinned by an investment programme of over R3bn this year, of which a third will be invested into large projects such as branch transformation.

Retail and Business Banking’s (RBB) headline earnings increased 41% to R8,0 billion, due largely to lower credit impairments. Retail Banking in South Africa grew 36%, on significantly lower mortgage credit impairments. Business Banking in South Africa delivered strong 64% earnings growth, having benefited from substantially lower losses in equities, while its core business rose 24% on lower credit impairments. Retail and Business Banking outside South Africa produced strong 30% net interest income growth that generated good pre-provision profit growth.

Financial Services’ headline earnings grew 8% to R1,4 billion, as strong growth from Investments, Fiduciary and the rest of Africa outweighed lower short-term insurance earnings. Corporate, Investment Bank and Wealth’s (CIBW) headline earnings decreased 4% to R3.0 billion, reflecting lower private equity revaluations, a higher effective tax rate and difficult trading conditions in markets.

Total Group assets increased 7% to R959.6 billion at 31 December 2013, with 7% growth in customer loans and 28% higher loans to banks.

The Group maintained its strong liquidity position, growing customer deposits 8% or by R44,9 billion to R588,0 billion. The Group’s Net asset value was flat at R77.3 billion, as it generated retained earnings of R11,4 billion in the period, which was offset by paying R11,6 billion in dividends. Its capital levels remain above Board targets and regulatory requirements.

Credit impairments fell 21% to R6 987 million from R8 855 million, resulting in a lower credit loss ratio of 1,20% from 1,60%. Unidentified impairments and identified impairments for performing loans increased 35% to R3,8 billion, which amounts to 0,64% of performing loans from 0,52% at 31 December 2012.

As previously indicated, Barclays Africa is investing more for growth, with operating costs rising 10% to R33 420 million from R30 329 million, including 15% in the second half. This pushed the group’s cost to income ratio to 56.3% from 55.2%. Excluding the Edcon portfolio, which was included for the full year, total costs grew closer to 7%.

Barclays Africa Group Limited is pleased to announce the judges for the Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge (BASCC) competition. The goal of the competition is to seek out world beating ideas that will change the way that supply chains operate in Africa. The final competition will take place on 3 November 2015, Woodstock Industrial Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

The Barclays Supply Chain Challenge is an initiative being driven into Africa with the aim of sparking ideas to drive innovation development across the continent. The company has announced an extension on the deadline for entries to 26 September 2015.

The BASCC, launched in July this year, is about supply chain transparency bringing focus to the supply chain, which is the journey of a product from manufacturer to consumer and is often disjointed or inefficient. There is currently a large amount of interest in finding ways to increase the transparency of provenance, not least of which resides in the use of Blockchain technology.

Judges for the challenge will include:

• Erik Hersman, CEO of BRCK and co-founder of Ushahidi and iHub Nairobi, is a widely respected technologist, blogger and commentator who specialises in the impact and application of technology throughout Africa.
• Andrew Baker, CIO for Corporate, Investment Banking and Payments at Barclays Africa, brings an extensive understanding of the financial services industry to the panel.
• Ian Merrington, CEO of The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) and The Bandwidth Barn, has extensive experience in the technology, innovation and the creative sectors.
• Teju Ajani, Regional content partnerships lead for YouTube, is responsible for YouTube content partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa and is charged with influencing the content creator ecosystem across Africa.
• Ashley Veasey, CIO of Barclays Africa, boasts more than 20 years of global technology leadership experience in retail, investment and corporate banking.

With our Pan-African challenge, we’re inviting teams of innovators to submit ideas that will shake up the supply chain from manufacturer to consumer, add transparency to the chain and consequently add real value for millions of people. Final applications must be received by 26 September 2015 and five finalists will be awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Cape Town.

Applicants who are still interested in submitting ideas are invited to follow @ThinkRiseAfrica and visit http://www.barclaysafrica.com/barclaysafrica/Supply-Chain-Challenge for information on how to do so.

Barclays is passionate about helping young women to take their place at the forefront of business.

Barclays is passionate about helping young women to take their place at the forefront of business. In partnership with lnvestSoc, Barclays will be hosting the Pioneering Young Women’s conference; a three-day interactive workshop from 6-8 July 2015 where young women will learn from the pioneers who’ve made a difference.

The theme of the event is – Aim High. Prosper, and will provide incredible content within the following sub-themes:

Day 1- Opening Day – Discovering the leader within me

You will embark on a facilitated journey of self-exploration that seeks to identify your leadership style. The Strengthsfinder activity will help you identify your strengths and how best to utilise them in developing yourself as a leader. Exercises and introspection will help you unpack “who am I”, “How do I show up”, “how do I brand myself”, and “what can I offer”. This journey starts with discovering your unique passions, strengths and vision for the future.

Day 2- Showing up as a leader

On this day, you will be invited to explore, create and develop your personal brand and values whilst remaining cognisant of your impact when interacting with others. A PVP is a personal manifesto that should tell those you come into contact with, who you are and what you stand for. This day will provide you with exposure to individuals who have been successful in creating PVP’s that are synonymous with excellence.

On this day you will be given the opportunity to gain deeper insights into the world of Barclays as you engage with some of our business leaders and alumni. You will also be given an opportunity to practise your networking skills with the BAGL Graduate community, and draw on their experiences as newbies’ in the world of work.

Day 3- Leading with a Global mind set

Global consciousness is the order of the day. We begin the day with an exuberating talk on current trends and how to be globally conscious. You will be exposed to knowledge and skills to help pursue your innovative side. This day aims to expand your practical education on the basic fundamentals required to make any venture you undertake relevant, successful and sustainable.

You will learn through the narratives of others, that success is never achieved in isolation. It is dependent on understanding the people you serve (clients), mobilising the people you work with (colleagues) and leveraging the broader role-players you are able to influence (external stakeholders and networks). This day aims to inspire you as our next generation, to take charge and own your role as pioneers to continuously Aim high and Prosper.

How do you get involved?

Applications run every year during April – May, for this year’s event applications are already closed, but you can follow the conversation via social media using #PYW2015

The seasonally adjusted Barclays Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) remained unchanged at 51.4 index points in July. The flat reading follows a strong gain (albeit from very depressed levels) in May and a further rise in June.

The major subcategories of the PMI put in a mixed performance during July. On a positive note, the seasonally adjusted business activity and inventories indices posted further gains. At 53.2 index points, the business activity index reached the best level since January 2015.

Of the key PMI subcomponents, the inventories index recorded the biggest gain in July. The index rose by 3.4 points to 60.2. There was also some good news on the input cost front. The PMI price index declined by 2.1 points to 75. The easing in cost pressures may already reflect the impact of lower commodity prices, including the renewed decline in the Brent crude oil price.

Not all good news

Unfortunately, it was not all good news. The new sales orders index declined by 1.9 index points and fell back below the 50 threshold. This may provide further evidence of the general demand weakness in the domestic economy. The employment index remained stuck well below the 50 level. The index lost almost 2 points to 46.9.

Somewhat surprisingly, purchasing managers remained optimistic about the future. The index measuring expected business conditions in six months gained 1.2 points to 63.2. It could be that the sustained weakening trend of the rand exchange rate and improved news flow on the Greek debt crisis buoyed sentiment.

The PMI leading indicator is not nearly as upbeat. The indicator looks at the ratio between new sales orders and inventors. A number above 1 suggests that demand is outstripping the level of inventories and below 1 vice versa. The leading indicator declined further to 0.8 in July, which does not bode well for manufacturing production going forward.

Barclays is proud to announce a new partnership with the Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University in support of South Africa’s monthly manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a leading economic indicator. Barclays will commence sponsorship of the PMI from 01 August 2015.

The index, now known as the Barclays Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), is an established and important indicator of business conditions in South Africa. The index was previously known as the Kagiso PMI.

“The PMI is a reliable leading indicator for actual South African manufacturing production as well as trends in the broader economy,” says Jeff Gable, head of Africa non-equity research at Barclays Africa.

Barclays’ support for the index is in recognition of the importance of the manufacturing sector, which contributed 13.9% to South Africa’s gross domestic product last year. It is also in recognition of the importance of the PMI in monitoring the health of the sector.

“The survey has sound academic foundations and is compiled on a monthly basis by the BER in association with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Southern Africa (CIPS). Since its inception in 1999, the manufacturing PMI has become one of the key releases on the monthly data calendar and is used by business people, analysts and policy makers”, says Prof Ben Smit, director of the Bureau for Economic Research.

Released on the first working day of every month, the index is compiled based on a survey of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector. The survey gauges monthly changes in business conditions including production, sales orders and employment, among other factors.

Lusaka- Barclays Bank Zambia Plc has announced its recent winning of three awards during the just ended Copperbelt Mining, Agriculture and Commercial Show that was held in Kitwe.

The Bank won awards in the following categories: ‘Best Overall Exhibitor Award’ – a prize that was presented by Republican President H.E Edgar C. Lungu; ‘Best Exibition award’ – Financial Institutions and Runner up for ‘Best interpretation of the theme’ award.

The winning of these awards bears testimony of Barclays Bank Zambia’s commitment to supporting customers in key economic sectors such as Mining and Agriculture, providing its customers with innovative world-class banking services as well as supporting sustainable development of communities across the country.

Value banking services

“We are delighted to win these awards which reflect the considerable steps we have taken in supporting our customers who operate in the key sectors of the economy such as Mining and Agriculture. Our strategy of bringing value banking services to our customers through the introduction of innovative products and services that include digital banking and electronic platforms has being pivotal to how we operate in order for us to provide them access to easy banking solutions that are aligned to global trends.

The success we celebrate today would not have been possible without our customers and we would like to thank them for their continued support” said Barclays Bank Zambia Managing Director Mr Saviour Chibiya.

During the show, the Bank showcased its wide product and service offering that included: a fully functional branch with the paperless solution which makes it easier for customers to carry out transactions without filling in paperwork, the Intelligent ATM service that has cash deposit capabilities giving customers immediate value, Zambia’s first Kwacha credit card, ATM Cash Send which enables Barclays customers to send money to be withdrawn from any ATM by a customer or non-customer, Vehicle and Assets Financing service, as well as the investments that the Bank is making through Community Investment programmes through partnerships such as UNICEF, Plan

More awards

International, Grassroots Soccer and Junior Achievement that have positively impacted over 220 000 beneficiaries across the country. Mr Chibiya further said that in line with the Bank’s purpose of ‘Helping people achieve their ambitions- in the right way’ Barclays Bank Zambia is continuously reviewing the feedback received from customers in order to serve them better because by meeting their needs, the Bank is helping them to Prosper which ultimately translates into Barclays Bank Zambia playing an integral role in helping the economy to Prosper.

In addition to winning the award, Barclays Bank Zambia has this year also been recognised by PMR a South African Based independent research organisation for the ‘Best Business Banking’ and ‘Best Personal Banking’ awards.