News
Absa celebrates separation programme from Barclays
Absa Group, one of Africa’s largest financial services providers, is celebrating substantial completion of its separation programme from Barclays PLC, three years after the start.
The separation, one of the largest and most complex corporate programmes of its kind, followed Barclays PLC’s 2016 decision to reduce its shareholding in the African group to a minority position.
Barclays became the majority shareholder in Absa in 2005 and the two groups subsequently integrated systems, processes and policies over time.
“We are closing an important chapter in the more-than-100-year history of the Absa Group as we wind up the last few elements of separation,” Absa Group Chief Executive Daniel Mminele said in a statement issued in Accra.
“We emerge from this chapter as a proudly independent African bank, strengthened and enriched by our experience as part of the UK group. We have a great foundation to build on and full control to make the decisions that are in the best interest of our customers and other stakeholders across all the African markets we operate in,” he said.
Barclays PLC contributed R12.6 billion (approximately $1 billion at the time) in 2017 towards the three-year separation programme, which comprised mainly Information Technology and brand projects, and which commenced on 6 June 2017.
The programme involved, among others, the largest single data and system migration in Africa as customers in nine countries were switched to a new online banking platform, improving customer experience through greater stability and upgraded user interfaces in several countries.
More than 1,000 branches, 10,000 Automate Teller Machines, close to 16,000 email addresses, several million customer cards, as well as thousands of uniforms, signage, forms, buildings and stationery were rebranded. At its peak, nearly 1,300 employees and contractors were dedicated to the separation programme.
“The initiatives undertaken have fundamentally improved Absa’s resilience, systems and capabilities, benefitting both employees and customers alike,” Mr Mminele said.
“I have been extremely impressed with how diligently and disciplined the colleagues have carried out this mammoth of a project, unparalleled on the continent in terms of size and complexity. We take great pride in having substantially completed the separation from Barclays PLC within budget and inside agreed timelines,” he said.
Absa Engineering Services Chief Executive, Paul O’Flaherty who leads the separation programme said, “The programme carried material risks, including potential large-scale banking system failures and customer attrition.”
“We worked closely with stakeholders including regulators across our presence markets to mitigate risk. We are proud to say that separation has been substantially completed in a safe and successful way,” he said.
BY TIMES REPORTER
The Speaker of the Algerian Parliament, Mr. Azouz Nasri, has arrived in Accra to take part in the Next Steps High-Level Consultative Conference on the implementation of the landmark United Nations Resolution on the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans.
He was received at the Jubilee Lounge, Kotoka International Airport, by Ghana’s First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor.
The 3-day conference runs from June 17–19, 2026 in Accra. It will bring together parliamentary leaders, diplomats, civil society, and other key stakeholders to reflect on the implications of the UN Resolution for Africans and people of African descent worldwide.
Organisers say the meeting is aimed at advancing a coordinated global framework to strengthen advocacy around the Resolution and provide practical guidance for its implementation across member states.
The Resolution is described as a historic step toward acknowledging the transatlantic slave trade and addressing its lasting impact, with this conference marking one of the first high-level efforts to move it from declaration to action.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Aspiring National Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Awentami Paul Afoko, has stated that the party has a unique opportunity to annex power in the 2028 elections.
According to him, the one person who has been on Ghana’s ballot paper for several elections will not be on the ballot paper in the 2028 elections, paving the way for the NPP to properly market its flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who is already a formidable force to reckon with and will go ahead to win the polls.
He argued that voters already know him, he’s battle-tested and ready to win.
He reiterated that the NPP will have a well-marketed candidate in the 2028 election and just as the party did in 2016 when it annexed power from a sitting government, the same can be done.
The Former NPP National Chairman, however, noted that this can be possible if the NPP unites as a unit and approach the elections with all the seriousness it deserves to ensure that its quest for victory does not become a mirage.
Mr Awentami Paul Afoko made this known when he met with Regional Executives, Patrons and Elders of the party in the Volta, Oti and Eastern Regions yesterday.
“For the first time we have a unique opportunity. At the time I put the New Plan for Power in place, we knew that the sitting president could go again and if he won another term, we would sit in opposition for twelve years.
We had to put a plan in place to make sure we come to power and we came to power. This time around, he will not be on the ballot paper and this offers us a unique opportunity, but without unity we will not get there,” he stated.
“As for unity, it is not negotiable. You can’t sit here and look at the lady sitting next to you and say I don’t like her so we can’t work together. We are working together for power, and if we let emotions get in the way, we lose” he said.
“Those of you who are old enough to remember Muhammad Ali the boxer, he is in the ring with you, he’s talking and calling you names then you get emotional and he takes advantage. Emotions won’t give us power. I didn’t get anything so I won’t support; no, let that go because it is in the past,” he noted.
Afoko, who is pushing his 3R Agenda of Reunite, Rebuild, and Recapture power, said the party must adopt a clear message to win back the confidence of Ghanaians and believes, with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, whom he described as the right candidate will guarantee the NPP victory in the 2028 polls.
“For years I chose to work quietly behind the scenes, supporting the NPP in private,” Afoko said.
“But recent developments have compelled me to step forward. We need to get our party back into winning ways, and that starts with unity of purpose,” Afoko reiterated.
He framed the upcoming period as a test of whether NPP politics would mature or remain stuck in cycles of blame, but was optimistic that everyone who loves the party would come on board to realize the goal of making Dr Mahamudu Bawumia the next President of Ghana.
By: Jacob Aggrey
