Access Holdings Plc wants to expand its operational footprint from 17 to 26 countries over the next five years. Three of these nations—the United States (US), France, and the United Kingdom will join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
This was stated by the bank in a recent five-year strategy it presented to the Nigerian Exchange Limited entitled Access Corporation Strategy, 2027.The strategy statement adheres to the bank’s customary five-year strategic cycles, which over the previous 20 years have helped Access Bank ascend to the top of the Nigerian banking system.
Access has advanced over the years by combining organic and inorganic expansion, and its most recent plan demonstrates that it aims to continue on this growth trajectory.“We will take advantage of our powerful organic growth and M&A capabilities to add value with each expansion, giving priority to nations with superior sovereign ratings and complementing business environments, Access stated in a document.According to Access, during this key phase, its footprint will increase significantly.
It also has interests in places as distant as Angola, Namibia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Having a presence in Morocco, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, the Republic of Benin, and Togo is another something it is interested in. Access also intends to conduct business in India.China, the UK, South Africa, Ghana, the Congo, and Cameroon are just a few countries that have access already.
The bank anticipates that after five years, the Nigerian bank will be contributing 52 per cent of revenues, down from about 82 per cent (as of 9M’22). It expects the new verticals will contribute in the region of 12 per cent of total revenues, as revenues from African subsidiaries are expected to double over the next five years.Similar to this, PBT contributions from the Nigerian bank are anticipated to fall from approximately 63% (9M’22) to approximately 33%, while the new verticals are anticipated to contribute about 19% of profitability by 2027, and African subsidiaries will contribute about 20% as our footprint expands across the continent.
Twenty years ago, the bank’s management recognized chances for inorganic expansion to propel it to dominant player status were presented by changes in the local banking business. Since then, the management has established numerous goals in order to achieve this goal. It has consistently surpassed the goals.
The Bank announced a goal in 2008 to rank among the top 5 financial services organizations by 2012. Access once again at the end of the time frame.end of the period, being ranked 4th by assets as of December 2012 following its acquisition of Intercontinental Bank Plc. With this, Access entered the Big League in Nigeria’s financial sector, joining the likes of Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Plc, United Bank for Africa, and First Bank of Nigeria Plc in the Tier-1 banks category.Access Bank’s aim at the number one spot paid off in 2018 when it acquired Diamond Bank Plc.
With the acquisition, Access became Nigeria’s biggest bank by the number of customers. It was a complementary transaction. For Diamond, it brought Access Bank’s strong culture of risk and capital management expertise, as well as a clear strategy for sustainable growth. On its part, Access benefited from Diamond Bank’s peculiar retail banking expertise and strong digital offering. The merger also transformed the entity that emerged from it, as the new Access bank combined retail banking and corporate banking.Within that period also Access completed six M&A transactions across Africa, specifically in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Guinea, and issued $500 Tier 2 capital.It said, “Our Africa strategy is supported by our presence in key international markets which enable us to: Diversify our earnings away from the volatile operating environments in Africa, orchestrate operations as a global payments gateway, manage our risk and exposures to soft currencies, and enhance our profitability without excess risk.”
