00:00Well, South Africa's deputy finance minister says improved investor sentiment is creating opportunities for the country.
00:07On the sidelines of the G20, David Masando said South Africa is in a, quote,
00:11sweet spot benefiting from stronger revenue collection, tighter fiscal discipline and a recent credit rating upgrade.
00:19Joining us now is Amal Prabhu, Barclays South Africa CEO and Jennifer Zavazaja, our chief Africa correspondent.
00:24Amal, I'm just going to start off by asking you your thoughts on the G20 that was held in Johannesburg in South Africa.
00:31What is what is actually meant and translated to in terms of putting South Africa on the global map?
00:39So good morning. Thank you, Jumana and also Jennifer for inviting me here.
00:44So look, it's a it's a good morning to all your viewers. So I think the I think we are in a sweet spot.
00:50I think I've covered the continent personally for over 10 years and I haven't seen a better time for South Africa.
00:56I mean, as you know, in addition to the G20, we're off the grey list. Inflation is coming down.
01:02S&P have upgraded us recently. The GNU is holding together.
01:06So there's a lot of positive data points that are coming through the economy.
01:10I think also specifically on the G20, there's a lot of focus around last week in terms of the crescendo that happened, the meetings that happened, etc.
01:19But I would remind viewers that these discussions have been going on all year across the G20, the B20 and other initiatives.
01:27And we have seen certainly within Barclays a real increase in investor sentiment in putting South Africa on the map in increased interest in looking at opportunities investing in the country, etc.
01:41So I think it's been a it has been a real win for South Africa across 2025.
01:47The real question, Jumana, is can that momentum, can that leverage continue throughout 2026?
01:54And what does that mean in terms of some of the expansion for Barclays in the region, potentially where you're investing into as well,
02:01especially if you think about some of the conversations that you were having prior to G20.
02:05Where is the bank focused on right now? So I think the bank is the banks, the banks, the banks, the banks been operating for 330 years.
02:13So where I should remind viewers were older than the United States and we've been operating on the continent for over 100 years.
02:19But I think strategically from from a business model perspective, we focus very much on South Africa and Anglophone Africa generally.
02:27Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and I shouldn't of course forget Egypt in in North Africa. They're the big five, as I call them.
02:33And we are investing significantly both organic growth supporting our clients grow.
02:40And it's mainly African families, businesses, companies with global needs and global clients that we're seeing invest in the continent.
02:48And again, that's it. It's a super interesting space to be in because we've had investors who know Africa risk who just simply want more.
02:58And also other global clients who maybe be overweight, developed markets, want to pivot a bit more into emerging markets and are willing to do the homework around Africa,
03:09willing to go to their credit committees and ask for different opportunities in Kenya, South Africa, whatever it may be.
03:15And we're obviously there to support them and help them in that journey.
03:18Can you talk to the private wealth business and the growth of that?
03:22Last week, I was speaking to Standard Chartered President of International, and he was saying it's growing in Africa, at least from from their perspective.
03:29Is Barclays seeing the same sort of activity across the continent?
03:33100 percent. I mean, so we have so for the global families that we support, many of them and we call it bridges.
03:40So Africa into the UK, into Europe, into Dubai, India, Singapore, and we see a lot of families now where, you know, mum and dad might be in Nairobi.
03:50You've got a child in the UK, a child in Dubai. You've got a global family business.
03:55And when I say child, they often are married with their own children.
03:58So it's multi-generational. And I think from a bank perspective, and particularly a private bank perspective, is how do you support those families across generations, across locations, across businesses?
04:13And being that trusted advisor, investment partner, particularly look in the global volatile world we live in.
04:21Things change, things develop. And making sure that our clients are informed and they're agile to take advantage of opportunities comes up is absolutely central to what we do.
04:33Yeah. Amal, I guess one of the risks, especially with any emerging market economy, is that the money that comes in could also be, quote unquote, hot money.
04:41It comes in and it comes out. What needs to be done to secure longer term investment from the international community?
04:48And what sort of financing should that take? Should there be more of a focus on equity financing versus debt financing?
04:56Yeah, look, it's a good question. And I think what you're really talking about is the notion of patient capital.
05:01So rather than exactly as you say, money coming in, coming out, you want long term investment.
05:07Now, I would almost to answer that question, take a few steps back. I think there's there has to be some education on both sides of the table in terms of investment in Africa and emerging markets generally.
05:19So the relevant global investor, you know, there's a lot of noise out there, a lot of information, a lot of disinformation.
05:26It's really being able to cut out the noise, know what the risk is, know what the opportunity is, and really doing the homework around country sector opportunity.
05:37I think linked to that is obviously on the other side, the relevant entity, company, family that's looking for the investment.
05:44They need to make it easy to for these investors to be able to invest.
05:49They need to have data, transparency, governance, et cetera.
05:53You often know what what global investors are looking for.
05:58And what you want to do is position yourself in the best way possible to attract that money.
06:03And again, we help clients because we often find it's not really a question of accessing capital.
06:11It's accessing the right type of capital for your particular business.
06:16Some clients do want hot money. Others want long term money.
06:20Others don't just want money, but also are willing to give, for example, board seats because they want strategic knowledge from that investor to help them drive the journey.
06:30So they want the knowledge and the know-how in order to be able to do that.
06:33So it's making sure there's a cultural fit.
06:37It's making sure you get the right investor for the right opportunity for the right company.
06:42And then things can develop and grow.
06:44So then, Amal, just finally, do you expect then to see potentially more deal flow in the next few months?
06:50Or is it still going to be a bit of a waiting moment at this point?
06:53I think we'll give everyone the summer break.
06:56Winter in some places, yeah.
06:57But I think you're absolutely right.
06:59I think in 2026, we are absolutely seeing, we already have a strong pipeline across our investment banking and private banking form of our global clients looking and wanting to hear about opportunities.
07:11And we're obviously talking to our clients on the ground to make sure they're appropriately positioned for that.
07:15So, as I said right at the beginning of our discussion, super positive, super excited about South Africa and the wider business.
07:23And really, it's hopefully 2026 will be a transformational year for the market.
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