LONDON - Robert E. Diamond Jr., the former chief executive of Barclays, did not have to look far to choose the top executive of his new investment company, Atlas Mara Co-Nvest.
Atlas Mara, which is focused on investments in the African financial sector, said Tuesday that it had appointed John Vitalo, chief executive for the Middle East and North Africa at Barclays since 2009, as group chief executive.
“He is a business builder, deeply knowledgeable in the critical areas of technology and risk, and he is trusted by his colleagues and clients,â€Â Mr. Diamond said in a statement.
Between 2005 and 2009, Mr. Vitalo was chief of Absa Capital, a pan-African investment bank and an affiliate of Barclays Capital.
The news comes just days after Atlas Mara agreed to a second investment in Africa, reaching a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to privatize the commercial arm of the state-owned Development Bank of Rwanda.
Last week, Atlas Mara said it would take a majority stake in ABC Holdings, which operates the African bank BancABC, and would acquire its controlling shareholder, the ADC African Development Corporation, for about $265 million in cash and shares.
Mr. Diamond co-founded Atlas Mara with Ashish J. Thakkar, the entrepreneur behind Mara Group, which has technology, manufacturing and real estate interests in 19 African countries.
