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The announcement last week by the United Kingdom lender, Barclays Plc, on it plans to sell-off a big chunk of its 62.3 percent stake in Barclays Africa has rattled investors and customers across the bank's subsidiaries in Africa.

This promoted a response from Barclays Africa Chief Executive, Maria Ramos, who said the bank will ensure that a change in the shareholding of the company results to a satisfactory outcome for all stakeholders. Barclays Bank Ghana CEO, Madam Patience Akyianu, has also assured its customers that the move by Barclays Plc to divest its stake in Barclays Africa will not affect the bank’s operations in Ghana.

“The decision of Barclays Plc is not a reflection on the strategic direction of performance of Barclays Africa or Ghana”, Akyianu stated while addressing a news conference in Accra last weekend. “Barclays Ghana is a profitable business that is well capitalised, highly liquid and customers should not be worried about the safety of their funds.”

It was reported last month, ahead of its 2015 full-year results announcement on March 1, that Barclays would evaluate its shareholding in Barclays Africa. The report said the UK-based Barclays would like to focus on its core operations in Britain and the United States. On March 1, CEO of Barclays, Jes Stanley, announced the bank’s intention to reduce its stake in Barclays Africa Group.

Barclays Africa Group was created by combining South Africa's Absa Group and other African operations of Barclays. Barclays Africa operates in 12 African countries across the continent, with 1,267 branches. Barclays’ stake in Barclays Africa is estimated at $3 billion. The UK lender separately owns a bank in Zimbabwe and one in Egypt. Mr. Stanley said the divestment process will take up to three years to unload much of the company’s shares in Barclays Africa.

Apart from Ghana, Barclays Africa Group has operations in South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Botswana, Zambia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Uganda. The bank also has representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria.

Barclays Bank Ghana CEO said the ongoing discussions about the future of Barclays does not affect the strategy of Barclays Africa Group in Ghana as the bank's operations will continue.