 Barclays bank profits up by 30% While addressing journalists at the bank’s head office in Kampala, Rakesh Jha, Barclays bank managing director, said that was characterized by many challenges for the banking sector like increase in the central bank rates that rose by over 50% from 11% to 17%This led to subsequent increase in the commercial banks’ lending rates, something that affected loan uptake by customers. Jha also said that there was also a liquidity crunch in the market as a result of currency depreciation as the Ugandan currency lost its value by 17.5%, which led to a decline in deposits. He explained that despite the challenges that affected the sector, the bank’s income grew by 20% from sh174b to sh210b.“Because of the macroeconomic headwinds that the economy experienced, a 20% increase in our income levels was impressive for us as a bank,” he said.Growth in profit after tax was also driven by efficient management of other aspects like costs and leveraging on technology. Read more ▪ Barclays to merge Tanzania subsidiaries, no sell-off planned Barclays Africa Group is in discussions with the Bank of Tanzania to merge its two business units in the country.Mr David Hodnett, the Barclays Africa Group Ltd (BAGL) deputy chief executive, told The EastAfrican, Daily Monitor’s sister newspaper, that the bank intends to combine the operations of its branded unit with those of the National Bank of Commerce (NBC).“There is still significant work required to ensure the merger goes through so it is too early to make further comment. For now, NBC and Barclays Bank Tanzania continue to operate as two separate and independent entities, with separate boards and management teams,” Mr Hodnett said. The merger will be subject to approvals by Bank of Tanzania, and the country’s Fair Competition Commission. Mr Hodnett did not give a timeline for the merger but it is expected to happen within the three years that the bank has given itself to reduce its interests in Africa, which are owned through BAGL. Read more ▪  Barclays Uganda moves to reassure clients on stability Barclays Bank of Uganda Ltd has assured their customers that they will be not affected by changes of its main shareholder Barclays Africa Group Ltd (BAGL).BAGL is the principle shareholder for Barclays Bank Uganda Ltd. The UK-based Barclays PLC which owns 62.3% of BAGL has announced that it is reducing its majority interests to minority position in BAGCL. The bank wants to refocus on its core U.K. and U.S. markets and to meet banking regulatory requirements of the UK. The regulatory requirements have proved to be a challenge to the London based firm.Rakesh Jha, managing director Barclays Uganda told journalists in Kampala that there was no direct relationship between the London based firm, Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank Uganda Ltd.Read more ▪ Barclays bank re-launches Prestige Banking Barclays Bank Uganda has re-launched the custom-made banking product - Prestige Banking.The product, previously known as Premier Life, was developed based on the bank’s customer feedback, and offers a ‘fresh’ approach to corporate banking, including preferential rates, convenient banking and improved financial solutions.“The prestige proposition is carefully designed to help meet clients’ needs by offering easy and quick access to affordable financial solutions and personalised banking,” says Mr Rakesh Jha, the Barclays Bank Uganda managing director.The re-launched product is expected to provide a range of benefits to customers, including express counters at their designated branches and access to life insurance cover of up to Shs21 million, inclusive of last expense funeral cover of up to Shs800,000 payable within 48 hours.Read more ▪ Barclays bank donates shs100m for youth skills development Barclays Bank has in a bid to boost skilling among the youth in remote Kampala suburbs donated shs100 million to Youth Employment Systems (YES) to create job creation skills. YES is a Non-Government Youth Capacity Building organization training and inspiring young people into employment creation in Kawempe Division, a Kampala suburb.YES is a national level coalition of youth and youth organization, advocating for youth employment creation. The primary aim is to work with diverse stakeholders to develop programs and projects for youth employment creation.At least five million youth shall have their career shaped. Barclays bank has partnered with YES to support the youth in skills development such as entrepreneurship and Business Development program, employability Skills Training, micro Business Support program YES Uganda country coordinator, Daniel Semakula said the shs100m donation from Barclays Bank will be utilised for developing Job related skills among young people. Read more ▪ Barclays Ready to Fund Uganda's Infrastructure Barclays group has said it has piles of cash to finance some of the biggest infrastructural projects in Uganda.At a meeting at Kampala Serena hotel with the minister of Finance, Maria Kiwanuka, the bank officials presented cases of projects in Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa, which they had financed.Rajih Shah, the head of Barclays' East Africa Investments, said: "We are open to fund government projects. In Kenya, when they decided to issue a Eurobond, we were so much involved. We were their lead arrangers [technical advisers]," Shah said."Being involved does not mean just providing money only; we can do other things including advisory services."Earlier this year, Kenya issued a sovereign bond, where it managed to raise $2bn from the international markets. It used the money to pay off some debts and fund infrastructural projects. Shah said there was growing appetite among investors for investments in the East African region, and that they want to be at the forefront of striking some of the biggest deals in the region. Read more ▪ Barclays: Shilling likely to continue depreciating, analysts say Currency analysts predict that the Uganda Shilling might continue to depreciate against the US dollar for some time due to increased demand for the Greenback.With the dollar demand staying high amidst reduced inflows, the Uganda shilling is expected to trade in the range of Shs2590 buying and Shs2,630 selling per US dollar.The shilling opened trading at 2,609.29 buying and s2,619.14 selling per US dollar. By midday, it was trading at 2,615.08 buying and 2,624.7 selling per US dollar.The head of market making Barclays Bank Uganda, Mr Faisal Bukenya, told the Daily Monitor that currently, the demand for the US dollar is higher than inflows.Mr Bukenya said the high demand for US dollars is coming from two major sectors of the economy; manufacturing and energy. Read more ▪ Barclays: Shilling strengthens as banks cut dollar positions The Ugandan shilling firmed on Thursday, boosted by banks cutting their dollar positions in the interbank market as demand from importers declined.At 0741 GMT, commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa's largest coffee exporter at 2,520/2,530, stronger than Wednesday's close of 2,528/2,530."Demand from importers is largely absent, which is forcing most banks to cut back on their dollar positions," said Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank. "I am expecting it (the shilling) to keep an appreciation bias going forward, because I don't anticipate a rebound in corporate demand soon."The local currency is largely stable in the year to date, underpinned by soft greenback appetite, liquidity mop-ups by the central bank and hard-currency inflows from offshore investors buying into Ugandan debt. Read more ▪ Banks try incentives to capture customers Commercial banks have come up with a number of inducements including cash-backs, interest rate discounts and fee waivers, among others, as they struggle to revive growth in loan advancement to the private sector.This is in the wake of a slowdown in most commercial bank loan books that contracted as businesses and individuals in the country grappled with double digit inflation that resulted in a steep rise in lending rates.According to Barclays Bank retail director, Mr Nazim Mahmood, relieving customers of insurance fees seeks to give them peace of mind and lower the costs involved in financing a loan. “When the bank takes up the payment of the insurance, it means that our customers are able to get their prospects financed with peace of mind in case the insured eventualities occur,” he notes in a statement. Read more ▪ Shilling stable, seen bearish on corporate demand The Ugandan shilling was unchanged in slow trading on Monday but was expected to come under some moderate pressure in the days ahead on the back of a recovery in corporate demand for dollars.The Ugandan shilling was unchanged in slow trading on Monday but was expected to come under some moderate pressure in the days ahead on the back of a recovery in corporate demand for dollars.Commercial banks quoted the currency of east Africa's third largest economy at 2,523/2,528, unchanged from Friday's close."We're anticipating demand from corporates to return to normal levels gradually over the coming weeks," said Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank Uganda. Read more ▪  Ugandan shilling stable, commodity exports seen offering support - Bukenya The Ugandan shilling was little changed. Traders said improved inflows from commodity exporters would provide a boost for the local currency. At 1115 GMT commercial banks quoted the currency of east Africa's third-largest economy at 2,517/2,522, barely changed from the close figure of 2,515/2,520. Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank, said a small increase in demand from the manufacturing sector had pushed the shilling a touch lower. Read more ▪  Absa-Barclays merger gets BoU nod Financial giant set to be pace-setter in Ugandan, regional market With all regulator requirements fulfilled to complete the $ 2 billion merger of Absa, South Africa’s largest retail bank, and Barclays Africa, attention is now shifting to the imminent restructuring that the bank could undergo in Uganda. The deal to acquire Barclays’s assets in Africa was first announced more than one and half years ago, but was only completed on July 22 following complex negotiations that took longer than expected to complete. Photos: Maria Romos, ABSA CEO and Charles Ongwae, Barclays MD Read more ▪  Absa-Barclays deal signals wider product range offer Barclays Uganda customers are set to enjoy a number of innovative products following the approval of the Absa-Barclays merger by Africa’s central banks regulators. Barclays Uganda managing director Charles Ongwae told the Daily Monitor in an interview on Monday that among the products to be replicated in Uganda following the merger of Absa and Barclays African businesses will include the introduction of a mobile money product – CashSend. CashSend – a brainchild of Absa, one of South Africa’s largest commercial banks –enables customers to send funds via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to recipients that do not have a bank account or card. Read more ▪ Ugandan born Asian, Tushar Morzaria hired by the Barclays London as a new finance director Lending giant Barclays has lured a top US banking executive to become its new finance director with a potential £6.2 million pay package. Mr Morzaria, a graduate of Manchester University, was born in Uganda and moved to the UK in 1971. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1993 before moving into banking. A British citizen, he is married with two children. He has spent most of his career at JP Morgan in London and New York, and has also worked at Credit Suisse and SG Warburg. Read more ▪ |  |
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