And while the article did not explicitly mention Barclays Wealth, the bank’s wealth management arm, it is likely that such a focus would include this side of the business. Already, Barclays Wealth has made a number of appointments to cover the Africa market, pitting it against rivals such as Standard Chartered, another UK-listed bank, and South Africa’s Investec.

Barclays has had strong links to Africa for many decades. The bank operates under its Barclays tag in several countries and also has a majority stake in Absa, a South African bank.

The FT said that while Barclays’ plans are thought to stop short of integrating the two divisions – strict corporate ownership laws would stop it taking full control of Absa, while it has invested too much in building the Barclays’ brand elsewhere to give it up – the bank is now determined to build closer ties between its businesses.

As the article notes, much of the attention on Africa stems from its strong commodities sector; the rise of the BRIC economies, such as China, has fuelled demand for precious metals, industrial metals and agricultural products. The FT said that during the past decade, gross domestic product in Africa has grown at a compound rate of almost 5 per cent each year – more than twice the rate of the developed world.

A significant problem for Africa – with some exceptions – remains the problem of weak, corrupt governments; unevenly enforced rules on property rights; underdeveloped financial markets, and in a number of areas, ethnic strife.

In May, Barclays Wealth expanded its Africa team with the appointment of five new private bankers to its International Private Bank (IPB) for Europe, Middle East and Africa, led by recently-appointed Chris Hocking.