By Bayo Bernard, Business Editor

Exactly 20 years ago two prolific Nigerian bankers and astute entrepreneurs took their destinies in their own hands after they left the ‘tarmac’ as top executives of a top commercial bank in the country to establish the first Access Bank branch along Burma Road, Apapa.

The pair of very hardworking  Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe, young, enterprising and beaming with lofty ideas had left their former employer, unaware of what the future held for their new firm. The only confidence they had then was the survival instinct that they cannot afford to fail in their new quest to own the biggest bank in the country.

Two decades after taking the humungous risk, the duo who were barely 40 years at the time must be very proud that the financial institution they nursed from infancy has not only become a household name as Nigeria’s biggest bank, but a global brand that can rival any in its class.

From just one branch in 2002, the financial institution has grown to become a financial behemoth with a significant presence in cities across Nigeria and beyond, boasting of assets in excess of N10 trillion, solid customers’ base, and positive rating by top flight global agencies.

The bank has continued to prove its position as Nigeria’s biggest bank by winning various awards such as the Financial Times  “Sustainable Bank of the Year Award” for Africa and Middle East region; CBN Sustainable Bank of the Year; CBN Sustainable Transaction of the Year (Oil and Gas Sector; CBN Sustainable Transaction of the Year (Agriculture)  and CBN Excellence in Women Economic Empowerment.

Last year, the bank was named ‘Best Bank Nigeria’, ‘Best Private Bank Nigeria’, and Pan-African ‘Sustainability Award’ at the 2021 EMEA Finance African Banking Awards.

After dominating the Nigeria financial space for two decades, the bank has notched higher by embarking on major acquisitions in South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, with a strong vigor on the part of the current management to embark on more mergers and acquisitions in the immediate future.

Indeed, by paying close to $60 million to acquire a controlling interest in South Africa’s 74-year-old Grobank in March 2021, Access Bank Plc became the first Nigerian bank to buy a bank in Africa’s most industrialised nation and tap into its huge market.

Before the South African acquisition, the bank had taken over Kenya’s Transnational Bank and Zambia-based Cavmont Bank, a great feat considering that no bank in the country had ever acquired three big banks in just eight months.

Recall that the bank, had in 2011, acquired 75 percent equity in the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, despite the initial ambiguity that it lacked the financial capacity to do so. That acquisition, considered to be the biggest upset in the nation’s financial sector, many say has since transformed the domestic acquisition landscape.

The management of the bank was to create another upset after it took over Diamond bank Plc on April 1, 2019, a deft move that further expanded its tentacles in Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy.

With the successful acquisitions, experts insist that Nigeria’s largest bank by assets, loans and deposits has mastered the art of takeovers, and its recent plans to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, AfCFTA to expand into eight other African countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Angola, and Ethiopia, within a short period has been well applauded by key industry players.

In spite of the huge milestones, the bank’s chief executive, the very cerebral Herbert Wigwe said the resolve of the management is to turn the financial institution into a global bank despite the challenging business environment, a lofty proposition which key players in the sector said will not be impossible considering that the bank has successfully proved what it means to overcome the ugly stereotype that nothing good can come out of Nigeria by building a strong, reliable, upward-moving global brand that can stand its own among its peers.

Wigwe said his management “want to be the Citibank of Africa. There is no point in waiting for other banks from other continents to come and serve you. You must create your own. We had to shut down a branch in Côte d’Ivoire. But nothing will stop us from creating that global institution that we seek to create”, he said on the bank’s next plan to expand retail banking services to France.

Having dominated the financial market for so long, the bank also recently solidified its position as a global player in the business sector after receiving the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s nod to  transform into a holding company that has the capacity to provide top notch services that is now well beyond the banking hall.

Even though the management said it has no immediate plans to abandon the bank’s core revenue generation sources, it has also assured major stakeholders that a holding company structure will enable the bank to generate more revenues from other non-core banking business, such as insurance, Real estate, e-commerce and fintechs, amongst others.

Going forward, the bank said the new subsidiaries will include Access Bank Group, Access Lendo; Access Insurance, Access Real Estate and E-commerce, to be manned by top brains in the sector, the bank said.

Vintage Wigwe, speaking on the restructuring, said it will not be difficult to attract manpower to the subsidiaries considering Access Bank’s solid reputation in the sector, assuring that the Holdco will take the financial institution to the next level.

He affirmed that the bank has broken the ceiling of providing just retail banking services and will leverage on its experience as Nigeria’s leading bank as it makes gradual but steady inroad to other sectors, noting that subsidiaries will be effectively manned by competent hands in order to achieve proper oversight.

He said, “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”, he explained further, “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.”

The bank’s CEO added that, “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.

“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,” Wigwe said.

Meanwhile, the bank has released its full financial report for the 2021 financial year to the Nigerian Exchange, NGX showing strong performance in key metric areas.

According to the report, the bank recorded gross earnings of N971.9 billion; profit before tax of N176. 7 billion; and profit after tax of N160.2billion from N106.0 billion in 2020.