ACCESS BANK GROUP - A GLOBAL BANK WITH AFRICAN ROOTS AND AFRICA’S GATEWAY TO THE WORLD
It has been just over a year since Access Bank Sierra Leone announced its intention to acquire Standard Chartered Bank Sierra Leone. During this period, significant progress has been made towards completing the acquisition and bringing together the best qualities, capabilities and resources of both banks. Through this acquisition, Access Bank will become a top 5 bank in the country, providing it with a platform to further enhance customer delivery whilst leveraging Standard Chartered Bank’s local legacy. Both institutions are global, one born in Africa with a track record of executional excellence and the other internationally born and with a strong product suite and client base.
The progress made with this transaction reflects a positive endorsement by our stakeholders in Sierra Leone and reinforces our commitment to accelerating the country’s development through the provision best-in- class banking services. Indeed, our 17-year journey in the country would not have been possible were it not for the enabling regulatory environment and supportive government. Whilst we officially opened doors in 2007, what is less known about the Bank are its roots and that it has been in West Africa since [1989] and is now Africa’s largest bank by customer numbers, servicing over 65 million customers through operations across 22 markets including [15] in Africa, a presence in the UAE, UK and France as well as representative offices in China, Hong Kong, India and Lebanon.
The exponential growth of Access Bank dates back to the early 2000s when two young men in their thirties embarked on a journey to transform the African financial services sector by changing the narrative of the continent. Their ambition was clear - to create a globally connected community and ecosystem, inspired by Africa, for the world. Many did not believe in the possibility of what Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, and Herbert Wigwe wanted to achieve but they set their sights and focused on the end game - to uplift the African continent through what they termed sustainable banking.
Starting in their home market of Nigeria in 2003 where Access Bank was the 65th largest bank to its current position as the largest bank in the country, the duo leveraged on their strong corporate banking foundation to achieve exponential growth through a consistent achievement of five-year strategic plans that have been aimed at creating the World’s most respected African Bank.
Outside of Nigeria and in West Africa alone, Access Bank has expanded into five other countries and is now scaling up its presence in the region through its acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank’s shareholding here as well as its other subsidiaries in Cameroon and The Gambia.
In Sierra Leone we have already seen notable increases in several of our banking segments, and we expect this transaction to accelerate this growth momentum. The bank’s strong financial performance in 2023 renders it suitably primed for acceleration and a further deepening of propositions. In the past year, revenue almost doubled, rising from Le48m in 2022 to Le80m. At the same time, the bank saw a marked increase in the value of total assets as well as customer deposits.
Aligning with Sierra Leone’s nation state agenda
Following the government’s launch of a renewed Medium-Term National Development Plan earlier this year, there exists much opportunity for financial institutions to play a role in operationalizing the Big Five Game Changers outlined by President Julius Maada Bio. Access Bank’s sizeable presence in West Africa, coupled with its global footprint, means that it can feature prominently during the next seven years (and beyond) in providing our customers in Sierra Leone with the international scale and expertise of the Group while being local enough to understand the challenges faced by stakeholders and the opportunities available to them.
As a banking group, we are aligned to the government’s view of trade as a key enabler in the diversification, infrastructural development and economic competitiveness of the country. As such, we have spent the last few years establishing a strong presence in all the major trade centers on the continent, enabling us to make our trade finance expertise available to West African multinational corporations as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This trade capability can accelerate the commercialization of Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector, a process that will be central in rolling out the government’s flagship programme, Feed Salone.
There have been several business success stories that Access Bank Sierra Leone has been privileged to have been involved in previously. In 2023, the bank engaged in various strategic collaborations such as the establishment of a German Desk in Sierra Leone to provide financial support and solutions and help boost business between Sierra Leone and Europe. We also had the privilege of hosting an economic forum which included esteemed panelists from the national government including Minister of Trade and Industry, Alpha Ibrahim Sesay.
Against the backdrop of our commercial growth, we have not lost sight of the need to ensure that we don’t neglect the other two pillars of the triple bottom line – people and planet. We recognize the profound impact of our operations on the environment, society, and economy in Sierra Leone. As a responsible corporate citizen, we are committed to integrating sustainability into every aspect of our business to drive positive change and deliver lasting value to our stakeholders.
A presence in Sierra Leone to bolster financial inclusion in West Africa
Beyond trade, there remains an opportunity to lead on the rollout of financial inclusion mechanisms in the country. According to the World Bank, approximately 350 million adults across sub-Saharan Africa remain unbanked and primarily excluded from the formal economy. In Sierra Leone, The UN notes that only 12.4% of adults have a bank account, with most financial institutions concentrated in the capital, Freetown and secondary urban areas like Kenema and Bo. The Bank of Sierra Leone has made significant progress in addressing this, with the launch of its National Strategy for Financial Inclusion which aims to improve access to financial services for underserved segments of the population, including women, youth, rural communities, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Access Bank’s presence in Sierra Leone has enabled the Group to deliver on its mandate of extending financial services to the unbanked and further deepening its financial services offerings to banked customers. The bank has continued to expand across the country, setting up ATMs and branches in previously underserved areas such as Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Lungi. In tandem, the bank has developed a progressive customer segmentation strategy underpinned by inclusive qualifying criteria – this has resulted in a notable rise in our customer base, from 30,952 in 2020, to 61,263 today. This expansion speaks to Access Bank’s broader “W” initiative, through which the bank continues to bank women and provide uniquely tailored offerings that aim to accelerate their financial inclusion. These include uniquely tailored loan and credit facilities and access to maternal health services.
Outlook
Looking ahead, the Bank will continue to invest in technological advancements which will enable the migration of the majority of its customers to digital platforms across touchpoints. The bank will also continue to grow its subsidiary network – with plans to have a footprint across 26 African countries as well as the USA, Europe and Asia by the end of 2027. Access Bank is well on its journey to building a strong global franchise focused on serving as a gateway for payments, investment and trade in Sierra Leone, the continent at large and the rest of the world.