The spread eagle emblem which has featured prominently throughout the Barclays Bank Botswana branches across the country will be no more, come first quarter of 2020.
As June 2020, the deadline date for Absa Group Limited (formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited) to stop using the name “Barclays” fast approaches, the local unit of the bank seems to be on the right path to rebrand its branches across the country.
Barclays Bank Botswana along its parent company Barclays Africa Group Limited (now Absa Group Limited), were given up to June 2020 to use the name “Barclays” and its blue bird logo by its former parent company Barclays PLC of Britain.
This was part of a transitional trade mark license agreement, entered into between Absa Group Limited (then known as Barclays Africa Group limited) and Barclays PLC as part of the separation arrangement.
The agreement provided that the Barclays brand may only be used in the rest of Africa up to 6 June 2020, subject to an additional two-year run off period in respect of debit and credit cards.
In July 2018 the group – Barclays Africa Group unveiled the bank’s new look under the name Absa in South Africa. At the same launch, the pan African lender said that it intends to rebrand its operations across Africa, most of which currently use the Barclays brand by 2020.
In Botswana, this past week Barclays Bank Botswana announced that as part of the changes its share code at the Botswana Stock Exchange bourse will also change from BBB to ABBL by 6 June 2020.
During a recent meeting, Barclays Bank of Botswana shareholders also approved a change of the bank’s company name to Absa Bank Botswana Limited (Absa) in the first of quarter 2020.
Oduetse Motshidisi – Chairman of Barclays Bank Botswana says the vote by shareholders in support of name change marks another milestone in the bank’s journey to become part of an independent pan-African banking group with global reach.
“Subject to regulatory approval, the new name will take effect in quarter one 2020, thus leading to a change in our share code on the Botswana Stock Exchange bourse, from BBB to ABBL by 6 June 2020”, Motshidisi said in a statement released to the capital markets.
The change of brand across the continent follows a groundbreaking transaction in 2017 that saw the bank’s majority shareholder, Barclays PLC, selling downs its investment.
