In 2018, Access Bank announced a mega decision to merge with Diamond Bank, making it the largest bank in Nigeria by total assets.
For those, who understand Herbert Wigwe and Aig Imoukuede, the men behind Access Bank, the transaction was just part of their model for building Africa’s largest financial services company.
Access Bank was after all acquired by both men in the mid-2000s and went on to acquire Intercontinental Bank, one of the largest banks in Nigeria at the time. These men are acquisition specialists and know how to get things done.
This week, Access Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Bank announced they reached an agreement wherein its flagship subsidiary – Access Bank Plc – will acquire Standard Chartered’s sub-saharan subsidiaries.
Under this acquisition deal, Access Bank will purchase Standard Chartered’s shareholding in its subsidiaries located in Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, and Sierra Leone.
Additionally, Access Bank will also acquire Standard Chartered’s consumer, private, and business banking business in Tanzania.
This follows Access Bank’s recent acquisition of a 51% majority equity stake in Finibanco Angola.
With its recent acquisitions, Nairametrics research thought to list some of the major subsidiaries Access Bank has acquired or merged with across Africa.
From the records of the company’s annual report, there are about 13 African subsidiaries with investment at a balance sheet value of about N273 billion.
We will flesh out some of the major ones.
Access Bank Sierra Leone Limited : Access Bank Sierra Leone, a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc, operates 6 branches across the country with 3 branches in Western Area, one each in Bo, Makeni, and Lungi.
- The bank commenced operations in November 2007 as Access Bank owns 99.19% equity in its Sierra Leone subsidiary.
- Access Bank Sierra Leone posted a profit after tax of N1.7 billion in 2022 after reporting an operating income of N4.1 billion.
- In terms of total assets, the bank has N28.7 billion as of December 2022.
Access Bank Rwanda Limited : Access Bank (Rwanda) Ltd is a commercial bank that operates in Rwanda that was officially launched in January 2009 after fulfilling all regulatory requirements.
- Formerly known as BANCOR SA Rwanda and created in 1995 by foreign investors, the bank was restructured in 2001 after its takeover by Rwandan and South African private investors.
- Access Bank Plc officially acquired BANCOR SA after its successful acquisition of a 75% stake.
- As of 31st December 2022, Access Bank has expanded its stake to 91.22%.
- Access Bank Rwanda reported a profit of N1.9 billion and an operating income of N6.3 billion.
- Total assets for the bank is N83.6 billion
Access Bank Zambia : Access Bank Zambia, a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc, operates 6 branches across the country.
- The bank was established in September 2008. Access Bank Plc owns 80.98% equity in its Zambian subsidiary.
- The Zambia based bank reported a profit of N4.9 billion in 2022 with an operating income of N13.8 billion.
- Access Bank Zambia has a total asst of N152 billion and is one of their largest African Subsidiaries.
Access Bank Ghana : Access Bank Ghana Plc is a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc. The bank was established in 2009 and operates from 51 locations across the country.
- The bank went public on Ghana Stock Exchange in March 2017. Access Bank Plc currently owns a 93.40% stake in its Ghana subsidiary.
- The bank is one of the largest subsidiaries outside of Nigeria with a total asset base of N442.5 billion as of December 2022.
- It however reported a loss after tax, of N32.4 billion with an operating income of N60.6 billion.
- The bank had a cash balance of N152.4 billion at the end of 2022.
Access Bank Kenya : Access Bank Kenya formerly known as Transnational Bank Kenya was established in 1984. The bank was acquired in January 2020 by Access Bank Plc.
- The bank operates in 17 branches in the company.
- As of 31st December 2022, Access Bank Plc owns a 99.98% stake in its Kenya subsidiary.
- Access Bank Kenya has a total asset of N54.3 billion as of December 2022
- The bank reported a profit after tax of N1.3 billion and an operating income of N5.17 billion.
Access Bank South Africa : The bank was established in 1947 as The South African Bank of Athens. It rebranded in 2018 as Grobank following a major acquisition.
- In 2021, Grobank was acquired by Access Bank Plc and the bank rebranded as Access Bank South Africa.
- Access Bank Plc currently owns a 97.89% stake in its South African subsidiary.
- Just like Ghana, this is one of Access Bank’s largest banks ourside Nigeria.
- The bank’s total assets is N146.2 billion as of December 2022.
- However, it reported a loss after tax of N6.1 billion in 2022. Operating income was just N5.3 billion.
Access Bank Botswana : Formerly called BancABC Botswana, the bank was established in 1997.
- In October 2021, BancABC Botswana was acquired by Access Bank Plc and the bank rebranded as Access Bank Botswana.
- Access Bank Plc currently owns a 78.15% stake in the bank which is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange.
- The Botswana based bank as a total asset of N332.5 billion and is the largest Access Bank operations outside of Nigeria.
- The bank reported a profit of N1.89 billion in 2022 out of an operating income of N15.5 billion.
- In terms of cash balance, total cash as of December 2022 was N58.5 billion.
Access Bank United Kingdom: The Access Bank UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Access Bank Plc which was incorporated in October 2007.
- The UK subsidiary operates from its Head Office in London with a branch operation within Dubai’s International Finance Centre and offices in Lagos, Nigeria.
- Access Holdings own about 100% of the UB based bank as of its December 2022 annual report.
- This is Access Bank’s largest operations outside of Nigeria and including Africa.
- Available financial records indicate, it has a total asset of N1.7 trillion as of December 2022.
- It reported a profit of N19.3 billion and an operating income of just N56.8 billion as of December 2022.
Other subsidiaries across Africa
Access Bank Plc also has other smaller subsidiaries in other African countries such as
- Access Bank Cameroon with 100% equity,
- Access Bank Mozambique with a 99.98% stake,
- Access Bank Guinea S.A with 100% equity,
- Access Bank R.D. Congo with 99.98% ownership,
- Access Bank Gambia Limited with 88% stake.
It is important to note that Access Bank Nigeria still contributes over 85% of the profits of the banking business owned by the group.
Thus, the investments appear to be targeted at cornering future growth by capturing market share now.
Subsidiaries owned in Nigeria
Access Pensions Limited
Access Pensions Limited is a licensed Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), which resulted from the merger of First Guarantee Pension Limited and Sigma Pensions Limited this year.
- The Company has Assets Under Management (AUM) of just under N1 trillion and over 1 million Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs).
- Access Pensions is the Fourth (4th) largest Pension Fund Administrator and is on track to challenge Stanbic Pensions.
- Access Pensions Limited was established in Nigeria on September 2004. Access Holdings currently owns a 51.51% equity stake in Access Pensions.
Hydrogen Payment Services Company Limited
Hydrogen Pay is the fintech subsidiary of Access Holdings. It’s a technology company dedicated to addressing payment challenges for aspiring businesses.
- Through payment options like POS and ‘InstaPay’, the company is poised to simplify payments for African Businesses.
Hydrogen Payment Services Company Limited was established in Nigeria on March 2021. Access Holdings own a 99.99% stake in the company.