Harare – Former Barclays CE, Bob Diamond has stepped down as chairman of Atlas Mara as the pan-African banking Group he founded says it is reviewing the future of its operations. He will be replaced by Michael Wilkerson, the chairman of Fairfax Africa Holdings Corp., which owns 49 percent of the firm, but will stay on as a non-executive director, Atlas Mara said in a statement on Wednesday. Diamond wants to “increase his focus” on other executive roles, including that as chief executive officer of New York-based Atlas Merchant Capital LLC, which has investments in Britain’s Panmure Gordon & Co., Greece’s Praxia Bank SA, France’s Kepler Cheuvreux SA, and U.S. insurer Talcott Resolution Life Inc. The 67-year-old took the post two years ago on a temporary basis as the firm struggled to contain expenses that were engulfing income. In that time, he helped secure financing from Fairfax Africa and increased Atlas Mara’s stake in its Nigerian banking unit, a cornerstone of its African strategy, to 49 percent from 31 percent. Reports has indicated that the Dubai-based investment vehicle has since suffered an 85 percent share price collapse. In the statement, Atlas Mara signalled a retreat from some markets as it announced it had retained Citi to review its operations. The group added that it had received indications of interests for certain banking assets and that it will sell off businesses that do not show signs of becoming leaders in their markets. It said some miscalculations were also made along the way as Atlas Mara faced much more experienced hands across in the seven African nations where it operates from the likes of Standard Bank Group Ltd., Standard Chartered Plc and a now-invigorated Absa Group Ltd. The Group said it potentially overpaid for some acquisitions, its operations are small and it was also exposed to countries like Zimbabwe, which is going through an economic crisis, Mozambique, which was caught hiding debt from investors, and debt-laden Zambia. The lender, which also has businesses in Botswana and Rwanda, now aims to be among the top five banks in the markets in which it operates, while assessing indications of interest for certain banking assets with Citigroup Inc. “Atlas Mara continues to focus on investments in core markets where a path to market leadership is clearly achievable,” the firm said, adding it “will seek to partner, exit or reduce risk exposure elsewhere.” African Banking Corporation, the parent company of BancABC, was acquired by Atlas Mara and has 23 branches in Zimbabwe. Equity Axis News