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* Shareholders approve Africa unit selldown
* McFarlane defends investment bank
* Employee count to fall to 80,000 after disposals (Adds details from meeting, new quotes, result of vote)
By Sinead Cruise and Lawrence White
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Barclays Chairman JohnMcFarlane has pledged to deliver a "clean and prosperous" 2018to investors, putting a deadline on a vast programme ofrestructuring and asset sales that will cause staffing numbersto fall by 50,000.
Speaking at the bank's annual general meeting (AGM) onThursday, McFarlane thanked investors for their patience whileBarclays runs down businesses it no longer sees as capable ofgenerating appropriate returns, against a backdrop of risingregulatory costs and poor economic conditions.
Following these disposals, which include the sell-down ofits 62 percent stake in Barclays Africa Group,McFarlane said the bank expected group full-time employees toreduce by around 50,000 people, resulting in a total headcountof 80,000 - almost half the staff employed at its peak.
The cost savings achieved from these cuts and the refocusingof the business would enable the bank to reintroduce a"respectable dividend level" and transform Barclays into a"significantly smaller, safer" bank, McFarlane said.
Barclays on Wednesday cheered investors with a moreresilient than expected performance from its investment bankingunit, amid a tough quarter for Wall Street firms.
Investors grilled Staley and McFarlane in a generallygood-natured three-hour meeting over issues includingexecutives' pay levels, their fatigue over strategy changes, andthe decision to sell the bank's stake in its Africa unit.
Nonetheless, over 97 percent of shareholders who votedauthorised the bank to sell down its stake in Barclays Africa tothe sub-20 percent level where it can consolidate the unit'searnings into its own.
PAY COMPLAINT
McFarlane also mounted a defence of Barclays' investmentbanking unit, under fire from investors for its sub-par returns.
"I realise our position in investment banking raisesquestions, as we have a substantial position in a sector whichis facing difficult times, and indeed produces a return wellbelow what is required," he said in his first AGM address aschairman.
McFarlane said some segments of the investment bank werevery successful, adding that these were offset by weaker onesthat are interdependent and necessary for the success of theothers.
One shareholder drew the warmest applause of the meeting forasking whether the board and senior management should not havegiven up more of their own pay, as the bank cut its dividend tofund the revamp.
McFarlane said he had "a lot of sympathy" with the issue ofhigh levels of banker compensation but that Barclays was notamong the highest payers in the industry and the payouts werenecessary to retain top staff.
Chief Executive Jes Staley said the short-term pain wasnecessary to put Barclays in a position to grow payouts overtime.
"Investing substantially in this company was one of thefirst things I did upon being appointed - and my interests arefirmly aligned with yours," he said.
Staley also said the bank was working hard to relieve thepressure on returns from fines for past conduct failings and wasseeking to resolve outstanding issues as swiftly as possible.
"There will also be no let-up in the critically importantwork to transform Barclays' culture," he said. (Editing by Mark Potter and Ed Osmond)
