Renowned Ghanaian broadcaster and Pan-Africanist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has made bold claims about the historical origins of Barclays Bank, now known as Absa Bank.

In a discussion with Kafui Dey, monitored by GhanaWeb on March 24, 2026, Kwesi Pratt stated that both Barclays Bank and the Catholic Church were built on the exploitation of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade.

According to him, the Barclays brothers were involved in slave trading, and the proceeds from that trade were used to establish the bank.

He further explained that the Catholic Church also derived part of its wealth from its involvement in activities linked to the slave trade.

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“You take an institution like the Catholic Church. Where does its wealth come from? The wealth of the Catholic Church comes from the fact that it was a partner to Portugal in the adventurism that eventually led to the transatlantic slave trade.

“Indeed, the justification for slavery and colonialism was provided in the papal bull of 1452, signed by the Pope, authorising King Alfonso of Portugal to go around the world ‘civilising’ people. That is where the justification comes from. This led to the establishment of institutions that denigrated our science, destroyed our science, and devalued our spirituality. There are many things we need to research,” he said.

Kwesi Pratt further argued that Africans are entitled to part of the wealth of institutions like Barclays Bank and the Catholic Church, given the historical context of how such wealth was generated.

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“...Barclays Bank was established by the Barclays brothers, who were slave traders. The money that established Barclays Bank came from the slave trade. Are we not entitled to it? We are entitled to it. The Catholic Church is one of the biggest and richest spiritual institutions in the world. Where did that wealth come from?

“We are entitled to that wealth. Just imagine that 12.6 million Africans ended up on plantations as beasts of burden and worked for hundreds of years without pay. Compute that,” he added.

Watch the video below:

The Catholic Church, Barclays Bank & the Transatlantic Slave Trade

The money that established Barclays Bank is slave trading money and the wealth of the Catholic Church also came from us so we’re entitled to it - Kwesi Pratt Jnr

Full interview here https://t.co/paz4qQCVvx… pic.twitter.com/BvTBO8ME9b

— Kafui Dey (@KafuiDey) March 24, 2026