Peter Matlare's appointment as a deputy CEO at Barclays Africa has raised eyebrows, with analysts saying his record leaves much to be desired.Matlare, who has been an independent nonexecutive director of Barclays Africa for five years, will be spearheading the bank's African operations, which may worry investors given his experience at Tiger Brands.Matlare, who was CEO of Tiger Brands for seven years, has been blamed for the consumer-goods company's woeful performance.Much of the damage was caused by the group's acquisition of 63% of Dangote Flour Mills in 2012 for R1.59-billion, a purchase that weighed down the company. It was forced to sell the Nigerian business in 2015.story_article_left1Sumil Seeraj, an equity analyst at SBG Securities, said Dangote was a "terrible" investment for Tiger Brands. "Eventually they invested just short of R3-billion which they never got a return on; equity that was effectively squandered." He said Dangote had returned to profitability within six months of the sale.David Hodnett will retain his position as a deputy CEO at Barclays Africa and will continue focusing on South African banking operations.Matlare may also be a potential successor for Maria Ramos, who has been the CEO of Barclays Africa since 2009. One analyst said this could scare off investors who remember his stint at Tiger Brands.Ramos said she hoped that investors would not take that approach because "we are adding an executive who has had a career in a number of different organisations, all of them very challenging, and it's been a career that has tested him and his leadership abilities".She added: "We are always very quick to judge people, but there is no doubt that Peter would say that his experience in his previous job was challenging, that he learnt an incredible amount from it; I think those lessons are quite important for us."Ramos believes that Matlare will bring "pan-African experience" that will be important in building Barclays Africa's portfolio on the continent.Devin Shutte, CEO of MyWealth Investments, agreed that the bank would be able to learn from Matlare's mistakes.story_article_right2"They would be able to learn from that and apply the lessons learnt, to avoid any investment mistakes on the African continent," he said."There is no substitute for experience. Business in these African markets is different in every country, you have to be able to leverage your experience to be able to effectively operate and that's what he brings."He did get it wrong, but the experience still stands," said Shutte.An analyst who did not want to be named said Matlare's appointment might be in line with the bank's focus on retail. "That's where Matlare's expertise lies."But this analyst said shareholders should be worried. "I would be very shocked if he became CEO."But Ramos said she had no plans to step down just yet."When the time comes to step down, I will step down. We've got an incredible leadership team here."Our board, which is a very seasoned board, will make the right decisions when the time comes," she said...