Does this mean we have to figure out how to pronounced “Attijariwafa”? Attijariwafa Bank is getting lots of ink this morning on news it wants to start doing due diligence on a potential acquisition of Barclays Egypt, having appointed UBS as financial advisor, sources told Al Mal. The Moroccan bank is preparing a preliminary acquisition offer that would allow it to conduct due diligence after it obtains Barclays and central bank approvals, according to the paper. Sources say the process is “moving slowly” and Barclays has not accepted any official offers yet. Also in the running for Barclays Egypt operations — for which the lender is said to be expecting well over 2x book value — are First Gulf Bank, ADCB, Rakbank, Lebanon’s Byblos and Emirates NBD.

Barclays, which is looking to entirely divest its African operations over a period as long as three years, said last week it would sell a 12.2% stake in Barclays Africa Group Ltd. (which doesn’t include Egypt) for USD 879 mn. Meanwhile, we caught former Barclays chief Bob Diamond on CNBC this week blathering on about his belief in “Africa Rising” as he continued his quest to buy Barclays’ African assets.