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Access Bank: 20 Years of Pioneering Leadership

Access Bank: 20 Years of Pioneering Leadership

Since its acquisition by Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe 20 years ago, Access Bank Plc has evolved from a tiny financial institution to one of the leading banks in Africa, writes Obinna Chima

March 22, 2022, will make it exactly 20 years after Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe acquired Access Bank Plc.

Aig-Imoukhuede who led the 2002 acquisition of the bank which then was a fringe regional player, thereafter went on to become its Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the financial institution till December 2013.

Both Aig-Imoukhuede and Wigwe were 37 years old then and Wigwe who is presently the Group Managing Director, was the Deputy Managing Director.

In his memoir, ‘Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa,’ Aig-Imoukhuede detailed how him and Wigwe walked the delicate path of buying Access Bank: their manouvres, struggles, despair and determination.

He wrote in the book launched last year: “So, once the decision to buy a bank was made, the next question was which one should we buy? I sat down with Herbert in my rented house at 10A Festival Road, on Victoria Island, Lagos, and launched our venture by compiling a list of all the banks that were potentially available.

“Our bank acquisition venture was tagged ‘Project Festival,’ by our team of advisers, coordinated by Albert Okumagba of BGL Securities. We spoke to different people within the industry and then we began to interact with key stakeholders and shareholders of our target list of institutions; we put together a team of advisers consisting of lawyers and investment bankers who were to support us in the process.

“We were fortunate to have strong relationships with committed advisers who were prepared to take on our mandate on the basis of a success fee. As we engaged the key stakeholders of our target institutions, we quickly found out that our preferred candidates, which were banks that were doing fairly well by industry standards, were too expensive for us to be able to afford.

“Used to working, as we were, for one of the country’s most successful banks, we wanted our own bank to be of the same quality as GTB in as many ways as possible, particularly when it came to brand, culture and values. To assume that this would come ‘ready-made’ was obviously naive of us and we soon realised that we would never find a candidate who already measured up to our expectations.

“One thing we were not prepared to compromise, however, was our desire to build an institution that was founded on ethical values and professionalism. Whatever deal was entered into had to be structured to ensure this was not compromised.

“There were periods when Herbert and I despaired of ever finding a deal that would match all our criteria, but we kept on going, refusing to give up, which is quite possibly the most fundamental rule of true entrepreneurship. Our faith in our abilities to succeed was sorely tested. The idea that was first germinated in 2000 finally came to fruition late in 2001, when we set our sights on Access Bank.”

Today, from being one of the smallest, most crisis-prone and obscure banks, Access Bank has evolved into a world-class African financial institution.

The impact of the transformation agenda which the then CEO and his deputy embarked on reflected in the first year as the bank grew its balance sheet by 100 per cent and posted an impressive N1 billion profit before tax. Its profit before tax figure was more than the cumulative profit made by the bank in the previous 12 years. This also marked the beginning of what would be a six-year record triple-digit growth trend.

However, in recognition of the role of an enhanced capital structure, the bank embarked on a capital raising exercise in July 2007. The exercise was an astounding success recording an over subscription of over 300 per cent. The public offer comprised of an over-the-counter Global Depository Receipt (GDR) placement of $250 million which was similarly oversubscribed by 700 per cent. In 2012 it become a top five bank in Nigeria following its acquisition of Intercontinental Bank and began to build a pre-eminent position in retail as well as corporate banking.  

By 2013 Access Bank had become AA- rated by S&P and was able to raise capital in the global bond markets, with its first successful $350 million Eurobond issuance taking place in July 2012. 

The bank set a target to become the world’s most successful African Bank and embarked upon a new five-year strategy focused on financial inclusion, women and youth as well as global trade finance, treasury and payments for the corporate sector. 

Wigwe, who took over from his close friend and business partner in January 2014, has ensured that the bank maintained its growth trajectory. Today, the bank which then was ranked 65th among 89 banks operating in the country is presently one of the five largest in Nigeria in terms of assets, loans, deposits and branch network; a feat which has been achieved through a robust long-term approach to client solutions – providing committed and innovative advice.
Access Bank has built its strength and success in corporate banking and is now applying that expertise to the personal and business banking platforms it acquired from Nigeria’s International Commercial bank in 2012 as well as in retail banking.

Also, since he took over as CEO, the expansionist adrenaline rush in Wigwe, who is the Chairman of the Body of Bank Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) has led to a string of expansion across Africa. He recently disclosed that he was leveraging on the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) to expand the bank’s footprints across the continent. That was why in 2019, it acquired its former rival.

He stated that the plan is for the bank to establish its presence in 22 African countries as well as some strategic locations outside the continent so as to diversify its earnings and take advantage of growth opportunities in Africa.

According to him, Africa has enormous potential and there are opportunities for an African bank that is well run, that understands compliance and has the capacity to support trade and the right technology infrastructure to support payments and remittances, without taking incremental risks.

“We believe that we are best positioned to basically do all of that. Our focus is to become an aggregator in Africa and we are building a global payment gateway and providing trade finance support and correspondent banking across the continent. We are focusing on the key markets.

“The approach would always be that in the country we wish to go to, that we have the right skills. We would not just be a drop in the country in which we are present, we would make sure that we have an impactful presence in each of the major countries in which we are present.

“In doing this, we are also mindful of the country we are going to so as to make sure that it is of benefit to the bank. As we do this, we are working with our friends and partners.

“We are diversifying our earnings away from volatile markets as well and we are orchestrating our operations from the global payments gateway and ensuring that using Access Bank UK, providing corresponding services from digital platforms, the overall profitability of our franchise,” the bank CEO explained.

Today, Wigwe understands that without embracing change and having foresights, banks would not be able to compete and would be left behind by their peers. This, would definitely impact customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and revenue growth negatively.

This is why he has continuously ensured that Access Bank under his watch is presently one of Africa’s leading financial services groups. He has shown a relentless pursuit for growth, but in a measured and calculated manner.

“We believe that we are best positioned to basically do all of that. Our focus is to become an aggregator in Africa and we are building a global payment gateway and providing trade finance support and correspondent banking across the continent. We are focusing on the key markets.

“The approach would always be that in the country we wish to go to, that we have the right skills. We would not just be a drop in the country in which we are present, we would make sure that we have an impactful presence in each of the major countries in which we are present.

“In doing this, we are also mindful of the country we are going to so as to make sure that it is of benefit to the bank. As we do this, we are working with our friends and partners.

“We are diversifying our earnings away from volatile markets as well and we are orchestrating our operations from the global payments gateway and ensuring that using Access Bank UK, providing corresponding services from digital platforms, the overall profitability of our franchise,” he explained.

Having identified the immense opportunity in playing at the global stage, the bank felt the next thing to do is to transit to a more formidable structure, which recently got the approval of its shareholders.

The HoldCo includes Access Bank Group, Payments Business, Consumer Lending and Agency Banking and an Insurance Brokerage.

Chairman of the bank, Dr. Ajoritsedere Awosika, said the board considered the restructuring to be the most appropriate to create strategic flexibility and diversification of the group’s revenues. Awosika pointed out that the restructuring would result in shareholders holding shares in the Holdco in the same proportion as their current holdings in the bank and the bank’s shares being held wholly by the Holdco.

On the justification for the restructuring, Awosika said the transition to a financial holding company was in line with considerations such as regulatory compliance, facilitation of growth and expansion in banking across Africa, diversification into permissible financial services and risk management.

Awosika explained that the structure would unburden the bank from oversight functions and responsibilities of managing the subsidiaries.

Clearly, going forward, innovation will play a major role in defining the future of the bank and its leadership is positioning the bank for that auspicious moment.

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