The risky and long-term nature of transatlantic slave trading meant that new banking houses were needed to offer credit to people trading in slaves. One bank that provided this service was run by Alexander and David Barclay and Barclays Bank still carries their name today.

Barclays Bank was founded on profits from the slave trade and heavily financed the slave trade. Without Barclay’s money millions of Africans would have been spared.

The realisation of the blood soaked foundations of Barclays Bank gives us an understanding of why they heavily invested in the subjugation of Blacks in South Africans. Their reluctance to leave South Africa was a testament to their enduring passion for profits from suffering.

Today, tokens of charitable donation are made to cast a shadow on the horrible history of Barclays Bank.