Barclays: African returns beat global target

British lender Barclays is injecting capital into its African business as returns from the continent exceed its global target for 2016. The combined return on equity from investment and corporate banking in Africa was between 18 percent and 19 percent, Stephen van Coller, the head of Absa Capital, said yesterday. That compares with the UK-based parent’s global goal of a 12 percent return by 2016. Van Coller said Africa would not be affected by the plan announced by Barclays on May 8 to cut 19 000 jobs across the company. “As long as we hit the return on equity targets, it is fine,” he said. Absa Capital “has a lot of growth opportunities because there’s not much there in the rest of Africa at the moment”, Tracy Brodziak, an analyst at Old Mutual Investment Group, said. – Bloomberg