Barclays’ Africa profits now close to £1bn

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Barclays’ Africa profits now close to £1bn

Barclays big push back into Africa was marked in May 2005 when the bank bought a big stake in Absa, the South African banking giantSome 20 years ago, Barclays was shunned by students across the UK, dubbed Boerclaysbank during the apartheid era and forced out of South Africa, making a profit of only £6m when it sold out of Barclays National Bank (Barnat). Roll the clock forwards and Barclays boss Bob Diamond was on Friday able to claim that the bank was making 20% of its £5.9bn profits on the African continent.