Barclays has agreed to sell its retail and corporate banking operations in Egypt to Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank for an undisclosed sum.

The sale is expected to boost Barclays’ common equity tier one (CET1) ratio by 0.1%, and reduce its risk weighted assets by about £2bn, the British lender said.

The transaction is anticipated to be wrapped up by the end of 2016, subject to regulatory approvals.

Barclays Group CEO Jes Staley said: “I am pleased to announce a further reduction in our Non-Core business. Today’s announcement demonstrates our continued focus on improving the Group’s returns and our ability to execute our strategy quickly.”

Barclays has operations across more than over 40 countries and a workforce of about 130,000, offering products and services across personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management. The bank’s Egyptian business has 56 branches and employs about 1,500 staff.

The bank is currently looking to retreat from Africa and focus on the UK and US market to boost profitability and simplify structure. Earlier in 2016, the bank offloaded its 12.2% stake in its African subsidiary Barclays Africa, diluting its stake in the African unit to 50.1%.

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