Barclays bid shows Britain's faith in us, says Mbe
Barclays bid shows Britain`s faith in us, says Mbeki
By Sapa
By Moffet Mofokeng
Burgerssort, Mpumalanga - Britain`s Barclays Bank`s bid to acquire a 21 percent stake in Absa, one of South Africa`s largest retail banks, is an indication of the British bank`s confidence in the future of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday.
`They would not be thinking of putting as much money as they would be putting in South Africa if they did not have confidence in the future of the country,` Mbeki told reporters at the Ga-Manoke village, on the border of Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
Mbeki said officials from Barclays told him that they understood `the challenges facing South Africa with regard to banking the un-bankable`.
`What they said is that they`re quite ready to respond to these challenges
. Their own view was that it was correct to address all of those challenges.`
If Barclays successfully bis to acquire the 21 percent stake, which is held by Sanlam, they would be bringing `the biggest investment out of the United Kingdom that Barclays have made in its whole life - 100 years.`
`What they would do, they would be bringing into that partnership of theirs with Absa... the financial strength indeed to make it possible to move forward with regard to the realisation of those challenges - banking the un-bankable,` Mbeki said, adding that he would watch closely how that bid unfolds.
Mbeki is on his last day visit of Mpumalanga, which forms part of government`s imbizo programme.
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