Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited is preparing to change to Absa Bank Uganda Limited.
“As part of our preparation, we are taking a sequenced approach to our change plans. Some branches will start to reflect several elements of the new brand before others,” the bank said in a statement.
It adds that even though some branches will start to look like Absa, the bank will continue to operate and trade as Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited until the name officially changes.
“The bank has several legal and regulatory milestones to achieve before the official name change date can be announced. The name change in Uganda is part of a broader, multi-country rebrand programme, scheduled to be completed by mid-2020,” it adds.
The rebrand is in line with Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited’s parent company, Absa Group’s 2018 decision to rebrand all operations across the continent to Absa in a carefully managed programme that involves ongoing engagement and close co-operation with the relevant regulatory authorities.
“In 2018, our parent company, Absa Group, announced a decision to rebrand all our operations across the continent to Absa. While Barclays continues to have a significant stake in Absa Group with a 14.9% stake, it is no longer our majority shareholder, and the Group has undergone an extensive managed separation process to detach its operations in Africa from those of Barclays PLC,” said Nazim Mahmood, Interim Managing Director of Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited.
The bank’s parent company, Absa Group Limited, is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups, offering an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance. The Group has a presence in 12 African countries and an international representative office in London (‘Absa Securities’), with almost 40,000 employees, more than 1,000 branches, and approximately 10,000 ATMs.
“Even though our name has not yet changed from Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited, we have begun preparing for the change by introducing Absa’s warm red colour palette in some of our assets, given the significant size of the rebrand task ahead. This includes some bank branches and ATMs, and has been done to ensure we are fully ready by the time our legal name changes,” said Mahmood.
