(Ecofin Agency) - Atlas Mara is about to overtake a new bank in Africa, co-founder of the African banking focused investment holding, announced on May 7, 2016.

“The targeted bank operates in one of the seven African countries where Atlas Mara has a branch,” said Barclays’ former chief executive at an African summit organized by the London Business School. However, he declined to reveal if the bank concerned was a subsidiary of Barclays which plans to exit the continent in the next two to three years.

Last month, April, Atlas Mara admitted that it was “negotiating with a consortium of investors” to acquire stakes in Barclays’ African unit. 

Diamond indicated that Africa will be the main driver of global economic growth over the next 25 years beating China as it growth slowed down. He added that it is time to acquire assets in nations such as Nigeria where slump in prices of commodities negatively impacted banks’ valorization. “We are building a pan-African bank (…), and our aim is to establish a first-class financial group with operations in 10 to 15 major countries,” he said.    

Founded at the end of 2013 by Bob Diamond, billionaire Ashish Thakkar and Arnold Ekpe, former CEO of Ecobank, Atlas Mara already holds significant shares in various African banks, including Union Bank of Nigeria, BancABC group which has branches in five South African countries (Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe), Popular Bank of Rwanda (PBR) and Finance Bank Zambia.

Also, Atlas Mara, according to media sources, plans to submit an offer to buy Mozambican bank Moza Banco SA.