Herbert Wigwe - Afrikan Heroes

Access Bank Makes Expansion Statement With Takeover of South Africa’s Grobank

March 31, 2021

Access Bank Managing Director Herbert Wigwe

Access Bank has been on acquisition spree in line with its expansion drive to become a truly pan-African financial powerhouse in the quest to tap into the opportunities provided by the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) by acquiring its third banking assets in eight months, having taken over Kenya’s Transnational Bank in July and Zambia-based Cavmont Bank in January. A statement from Access Bank said that it has paid about $60 million to purchase a controlling interest in South Africa’s 74-year-old Grobank, signaling the culmination of its aspiration to foray into Africa’s most industrialised nation and tap its market.

The move makes it Nigeria’s first bank to venture into South Africa ploughing in both equity and debt in Grobank as part of the grand plan to explore trade banking deals on its way to becoming “Africa’s Gateway to the World”, Managing Director Herbert Wigwe was recently quoted as saying.

It will open up the means to widen trade finance capacity in Grobank, which is presently increasing its attention on the country’s agriculture industry. No mention was made of the precise stake size but the lender said in a note in September “the first is an initial cash consideration for a 49 per cent shareholding, increasing to a majority stake in the second tranche”.

Banks in Nigeria are stepping up efforts to create new ways of bolstering earnings beyond its shores as a buffer to an economic downturn that has triggered a fall in government bond yields and accelerated the incidence of restructured loans, helped by the pandemic.

“We have a full retail banking licence in South Africa. We will pursue a wholesale banking franchise. We will pursue trade finance,” Mr Wigwe said.

The South African acquisition is its third in eight months, having taken over Kenya’s Transnational Bank in July and Zambia-based Cavmont Bank in January. It hopes to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement to enter Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and Ethiopia.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Access Bank to Embark on Massive African Expansion

January 21, 2021

With the window of opportunities arising from the commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) early this January, Nigeria’s biggest bank Access Bank Plc, has mapped its expansion drive across the continent starting with eight countries.

Leveraging the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area,” the Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe said that with Access Bank already operating in 12 African countries, the new expansion drive will bring to 20, the number of countries the bank has operations in Africa especially with its recent acquisition in Kenya to other high-potential markets. According to the CEO, the countries on the Bank’s radar are Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and Ethiopia.

Access Bank will set up offices in some countries and in others go into partnerships with existing banks or leverage its digital platforms to provide services to customers, Roosevelt Ogbonna, deputy managing director said by phone. The bank will “in another month or two, once the arrangements have been put in place,” give clarity on the nature of operations in some of the countries, he said.

It will also use its London-based unit as an “anchor for growth” to expand representative offices in countries such as India, Lebanon and China, the bank’s CEO said

The African trade pact aims to bolster intra-regional commerce by lowering or eliminating cross-border tariffs, facilitating the movement of capital and people, promoting investment and paving the way for the establishment of a continental-wide customs union.