BARCLAYS Bank’s commitment to the African market is unwavering, Amol Prabhu, Market Head-Africa, for Barclays has stated.
For Amol, the reason Barclays continues to resonate extremely well in Africa is that the bank has the competitive advantage, boasts of the right product base, talent skill sets and global reach to provide clients and customers with the right services.
In an exclusive interview with Business Finder on the operations of the bank in Africa, Amol maintained that Barclays fully understands the needs of clients in countries where it operates and remains committed to meeting and exceeding those needs.
Amol told Business Finder that feedback from clients and relevant regulators across the continent had revealed clearly that many in Ghana and Africa had a strong pull to the brand; they see it as a premium brand that’s independent and is stable with it’s over 330 years history.
“When people think of Barclays, they have an emotional reaction because often, for many of them, who have studied at some point in the United Kingdom, they have lived or worked there, they reminisce about their Barclays students accounts and many of them still have those accounts,” Amol added.
Barclays, he noted, is determined to reinforce that message of commitment to the African market, in Anglophone countries , where the brand resonates , where the bank has its history.
The bank focuses on three businesses- private banking, investment banking and corporate banking. Amol made the point that in all of the countries that Barclays operates in ,“we operate and focus on those three businesses because they all help each other.”
“If you are the CEO, CFO, or founder of particular businesses in a particular country, you are often a high net worth individual so we can support you on the investment banking or corporate side, we should be able to support you on the private banking side and vice versa,” Amol assured.
All three businesses , while they work independently they also cross refer businesses to each other, Amol explained.
Even though the bank does not provide local retail services, for Ghanaian businesses looking for cross border global international support, Barclays provides that offshore, overseas support to many of such clients.
“We provide local support to for instance the Lebanese and Indian communities in Ghana and can also cover families and businesses because we look across multiple corridors globally, “ Amol stated.
Families, especially those with established wealth, who are looking for access to global networks and corridors, who have the ability to invest in other entrepreneurs on the continent and globally, and are looking for ways to ensure that their children can be educated overseas are fully covered by Barclays.
According to Amol, having the ability to support these global families in every location as well as both individually and holistically is critical.
As the client’s business grows, their needs change over time and Barclays is well positioned through its Corporate and Investment Banking offering to provide relevant support.
In his view, it’s the ability to provide clients with coverage that’s not just multi-location but also multi-business, multi-product and multi-generational that’s important.
These types of clients have got complex, global needs, so that’s where real value can be added. Few banks provide this coverage and even fewer do it very well.
