On January 17, the Group CEO, Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe was one of the several dignitaries that eulogised Abdul Imoyo, the company’s Group Head Corporate Communications, who died last December.
At Imoyo’s Service of Songs held in Lagos, Wigwe spoke glowingly of his ex staff’s commitment to duty and expertise in crisis management.
About three weeks down the line, Wigwe was also gone. On Friday night, a chopper transporting him crashed and killed him as well as about five others in California, USA.
While the business world mourned Wigwe’s sudden demise, his courageous business deals remained a reference point for generations to see.
Aided by strong public sector penetration, Access Bank, founded from the scratch by Aigboje Aig-Imouhuede and Herbert Wigwe in 2002, began operation after securing banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It operated initially as a one-branch small bank at Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos.
Access Bank Plc surprised pessimists that gave it little or no chance for survival when it started operation over two decades ago. An industry leader with group total assets of N20.9 trillion as at June 2023, Access Bank’s success story has proved pundits wrong.
The bank under Wigwe had from the onset, prioritised raising capital, mergers and acquisitions-based growth. These blueprints were synchronised into the steps it took in the later years and defined the banking giant it turned out to be.
Today, Access Bank is a full service commercial bank operating through a network of more than 600 branches and service outlets, spanning three continents, 12 countries and 36 million customers. This makes it the largest bank in Nigeria and Africa’s leading bank by customer base.
Speaking during the listing of Access Bank as a Holding Company at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on April 28, 2022, Wigwe, recalled the bank’s success story and supports that kept it going.
Access Bank’s future started looking bright in 2012 after it acquired Intercontinental Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest bank by customer base in that era. When the dust generated by that acquisition settled, it returned with another trophy- the takeover of Diamond Bank Plc, a grassroots lender with formidable spread across the country, which was completed in March 2019.
The bank sustained its passion for acquisitions. In 2021, it bought 78.15 per cent stake in the African Banking Corporation of Botswana Limited (BancABC Botswana).
It further invested $60 million to acquire a stake in South Africa’s Grobank; purchased d Cavmont Bank from the Zambian arm of Namibian financial services group Capricorn, for a nominal fee of 1 kwacha ($0.0014) and opened a unit in Mozambique. With 14 subsidiaries in Africa, Europe and Asia, Access Bank leapfrogged from an obscure lender to one of the five largest banks in Nigeria in terms of assets, loans, deposits, branch network and profitability.
Aside these acquisitions, Access Bank under Wigwe has gained reputation of an aggressive lender with strong loan recovery drive. Its foothold in public sector, especially Lagos State where it funds major infrastructural projects as well as grassroots presence set it miles ahead of the competition.
In April 2022, Access Bank adopted a Holding Company (HoldCo) structure and named Wigwe the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc. This transformed the bank from core banking into full financial service holding company from May 1, and trading as Access Corporation.
Wigwe said: “Our focus is to become an aggregator in Africa as we build a global payment gateway, provide trade finance support and correspondent banking across Africa’s key markets. We are diversifying our earnings away from volatile markets and orchestrating operations from the global payments gateway, he explained during third quarter 2021 results announcements in Lagos”.
Wigwe kept his eyes on African dominance
Access Corporation wants to deepen its African presence and continue to expand its customer base as the core aims of its latest five-year strategic plan. Presenting the plan in Lagos Wigwe said: “We are setting out a new and ambitious five-year strategy which will put Access Bank at the forefront of Africa’s changing financial landscape by creating a universal payments gateway to dominate international trade and inter-African payments.”
The new strategy will be digitally led, will focus on retail banking growth and consolidation in wholesale markets, be customer-focused and analytics-driven with robust risk management; strong global collaboration in key gateway markets and the creation of a universal payments gateway.”
“In the next phase of its transformation programme,” according to the presentation, “Access Bank will embark on series of bold initiatives. At home, the goal is to be the number one bank in Nigeria by growing the retail customer base, the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises client base, and by dominating the top 100 Nigerian corporates.
However, the bank’s Africa expansion suffered a minor setback when Access Bank Plc called off the proposed acquisition of Sidian Bank Limited,
Access said the Kenyan Bank had failed to fulfil some requisite acquisition conditions agreed by both institutions. This brought to a halt its agreement with Centum to acquire the entire 83.4% shareholding held by the investment company in Sidian Bank Ltd.
“Although regulators have all been supportive in engagements around the transaction, certain conditions precedent including those required of Sidian Bank which were needed to prudently complete the transaction have not been met and the parties were unable to reach an agreement on the variation of these conditions in a manner to deliver the desired outcome for the parties,” said Sunday Ekwochi, company secretary of Access Holdings Plc.
However, Access Bank under Wigwe already made a strategic entry into the highly-competitive Kenyan financial ecosystem through the acquisition of Transnational Bank Plc of Kenya (now Access Bank Kenya) in 2020.
The bank’s other subsidiaries include Access Bank (Gambia) Limited, Access Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited, Access Bank (UK) Limited, Access Bank (Ghana) Limited, Access Bank (D.R. Congo), Access Bank (Rwanda) Limited, Access Bank (Guinea) Limited, and Access Bank (Mozambique) Limited.
The bank’s target is 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.
Wigwe’s life, passion, philanthropy and commitment to education
Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe, was born on August 15, 1966 in Isiokpo, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. As the CEO of Access Holdings Plc, Wigwe’s impact in the finance world was spectacular.
Wigwe had a degree in Accountancy from the University of Nigeria and further education in Banking and Finance, Financial Economics, and an executive program from Harvard Business School.
His career began at Coopers & Lybrand, Lagos, before joining to Guaranty Trust Bank, from where he later teamed up with Aig-Imoukhuede to invest in Access Bank.
Aside banking, Wigwe was also passionate about education and philanthropy. His passion for philanthropy led him to establish the Herbert Wigwe Foundation, fostering education and entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
The establishment of Wigwe University with a $500 million investment, earned him a spot in Nigeria’s educational sector.
With a focus on management, science, engineering, and the arts, Wigwe University was set to provide world-class education, blending traditional methods with innovative technology.
The university, situated in Isiokpo, Port Harcourt, was approved by the National Universities Commission in June 2023. Its curriculum was designed to address critical sectors such as finance and technology, while also nurturing leadership and entrepreneurial skills.
Wigwe University promised not just academic excellence but a holistic approach to education. Sports, arts, and practical experience were integral parts of its curriculum, ensuring that students received a well-rounded education.
The university’s inaugural batch was expected to be a diverse group of 1,400 students, with plans to increase enrollment significantly over the next five years.
“At Wigwe University, we stand by our promise to bring you a world class education like no other. Our strength lies in the diversity and expertise of our faculty. With over 35 per cent of our faculty from different continents of the world, Wigwe University brings a wealth of global knowledge to your doorstep.”
“Our faculty members are not just educators, they are mentors, that will guide you towards academic excellence and help you navigate the complexities of your chosen field with a truly international perspective,” the school wrote on its website.