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Barclays, the British banking giant, is set to announce that the bank has decided to divest from its Africa businesses in order to focus on its core operations in Britain and the United States.

According to the Financial Times, Jes Staley, Barclays’ Chief Executive Officer, would inform investors on Tuesday that the British bank would exit its African operations after a strategic review.

On assumption of his role in December, Staley began reviewing all parts of Barclays’ businesses as he prepared to outline his plans to investors on March 1st during the results season.

Staley had questioned the strategy of Barclays’ Africa businesses after investor confidence in South Africa, the bank’s largest market in Africa, was shattered by the decision of President Jacob Zuma to change his finance minister twice in less than a week in December. The rand crashed to all-time lows against major currencies, and is still down by a quarter against the British pound over the past year.

Barclays owns 62 per cent of Barclays Africa Group, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and controls the group’s main operations on the continent, including Absa, a South African bank it bought in 2005. Barclays Africa has 45,000 employees – a third of all Barclays’ staff – and 1,267 branches spread across 12 countries, including Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Uganda. Aside from the Barclays Africa Group, Barclays also has operations in Egypt and Zimbabwe.

In February last year, Barclays Africa announced that it has applied for an investment-banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

A possible buyer of Barclays’ Africa businesses, which is worth about £3.5 billion, includes Atlas Mara, the Africa-focused financial services group controlled by former Barclays CEO, Bob Diamond.