Barclays Africa Group has appointed four new employees to its Africa trade team in Nigeria: all join from Deutsche Bank.

Leading the group is Charles Weller, managing director, Africa Trade, who brings with him three of his Deutsche Bank team members:  Oladapo Adeigbe, Balogun Olusola and Dapo Oluwole.

They all started in their new positions on January 1 and will remain based in Lagos.

Weller reports to Jason Barrass, head of Africa Trade, in Johannesburg. Weller previously worked as Deutsche’s Nigeria country head, and in his new position will act as Barclays’ liaison into the Nigerian market, focused predominantly around trade and supporting the bank’s financial institution clients.

“I am very pleased to announce the arrival of Charles and team to the Barclays Group.”

“Our stated aims are to expand our Nigerian business and to help our clients in these thriving markets. Charles’ experience and in-depth market knowledge will certainly help with these ambitions,” Barrass tells GTR.

“Charles will work with the bank’s global network and help facilitate trade, linking up the key trade corridors,” he adds.

Barclays is looking to become a more strategic player in Nigeria, and these hires are the first real stage of that initiative, GTR understands. The bank already has a local representative office in the country, but this move will be a significant development on that.