Barclays Bank plans to leave Egypt

Barclays Bank announced on Wednesday its intention to pull out of Egypt as part of a wider Africa exit plan to focus on the group’s core British and US markets.

The British bank said in a press release that talks over a deal to sell Barclays’ Egyptian operations to its South African subsidiary broke down last year.

“Accordingly, Barclays Bank concluded that another investor may be more able to develop banking business in Egypt,” it added.

Barclays Group Chief Executive Jes Staley said that the bank intends to reduce its stake, amounting to 62.3 per cent, in Barclays Africa over the next two or three years after obtaining shareholders’ and regulators’ approval.