Absa Bank, the South African subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group has joined the R3 global blockchain consortium in an effort to design and apply distributed and shared ledger-inspired technologies to global financial markets.

Absa bank, being the first in Africa to join the consortium, will be working with more than 40 of the world’s leading financial institutions. It will also collaborate with R3 and other South African banks to develop Africa’s first blockchain-based banking solution, Finextra.com reported.

"We see huge potential for financial institutions in Africa to embrace disruptive technologies like blockchain, and use them to empower individuals and improve the lives of their customers. However, its true value will only be realized if we work together to co-develop and share solutions to common problems," CIO at corporate and investment banking at Absa, Andrew Baker said, as reported by Finextra.

Recently, R3 global blockchain consortium added Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco to its group. Also, the consortium included Toyota Financial Services as the first automotive financial services provider to the consortium.

“The addition of Absa marks another significant milestone for R3 as we continue to expand the global presence of our consortium. Africa is a key market for us and we look forward to collaborating with Absa to develop distributed and shared ledger technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the infrastructure across global financial markets,” David Rutter, CEO of R3 said.

Absa is a financial services provider, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management as well as bancassurance. ABSA Bank Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group.