Morocco's Attijariwafa Bank plans bid for Barclays' Egypt business

Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco's largest bank by assets, plans to bid for the Egyptian operations of Barclays, a senior executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

Barclays said last week it will sell its Africa business as new Chief Executive Jes Staley attempts to simplify the bank's structure and seek higher shareholder returns.

The sale process includes disposing of its Egypt and Zimbabwe businesses, which Barclays has deemed non-core.

Attijariwafa, which already has a presence in 24 countries, including 14 in Africa, is interested in bidding for the Egypt business, Ismail Douiri, general manager of Attijariwafa Bank, said.

Sources familiar with the sale said the equity size of Barclays' Egyptian unit was around $400 million.

"Egypt we will look at and we already signalled that to Barclays. Once the competitive process starts we hope to receive the documents and decide accordingly," Douiri said.