Barclays Africa Group relaunches as Absa Group with a fresh new look

Barclays Africa Group Limited has officially been renamed Absa Group Limited and started trading under its new name and new share code on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 11 July.

The name change marks the start of a new era for the group as a standalone African group with a new brand design fit for a forward-looking business in a digital age.

The Absa Group is no longer just a South African brand, it now has a presence in 12 African countries and plans to open international offices in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Absa Group Limited CEO Maria Ramos said, “Our new name and brand are an expression of our new purpose and strategic direction, which commits us to growing in Africa. We are rallying around a shared sense of purpose and identity while celebrating our diversity.”

Absa Group launched a new growth strategy in March this year as it separates from Barclays. The strategy prioritises cultural transformation as well as restoring leadership position in the group’s core business areas, and developing pioneering propositions for customers and clients. The new Absa brand design is an expression of the group’s new purpose, which is ‘bringing your possibility to life’.

The rollout of the new Absa brand design in South Africa will be completed in 2019. The new Absa brand will also be rolled out to Absa Group’s Barclays banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia by mid-2020, subject to approvals including from regulators in those countries. Product and service functionality will not be affected by the rebranding programme.

“We would like to build the brand as a bank that Africa’s people can be proud of, a truly independent African bank with global scalability. A single brand will enable us to unite behind a single identity, purpose and strategy; we are excited by the enormous opportunity we have to create a bank that Africa can be proud of,” concluded Ramos.

The group will also display a drone light show above its building in Sandton to mark its rebranding. The show will see hundreds of drones flying in formation of the new Absa logo at 7.30 pm on 11 July.

Details: Absa head office 011 350 4000.

Share your thoughts on Absa’s rebranding on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/171858/be-vigilant-of-fraud-scams-says-absa-2/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/180442/alice-lane-project-in-sandton-completed/