Access Bank closing in on launch of new operations in Asia — Wigwe
The Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe has revealed that the bank is closing in on processes to launch the operations of Access Bank in Asia.
Speaking with Semafor Africa, Wigwe said the Bank is close to finalising a regulatory process to launch its first full banking service in Asia in the first quarter of 2024.
The Asian bank plan is part of a wider global expansion target which includes a strategy to expand more deeply into Francophone Africa, build closer ties with North Africa, and across Europe where it already has wholesale banking operations in London and Paris, which opened in May.
Wigwe disclosed further that he and his team expect to receive approval from monetary authorities “by this side of Christmas.”
He however declined to confirm the country in which the bank would launch in order to avoid preempting local regulators, but he added, “We will definitely be in Asia by the first quarter of next year.”
Access has used a wholesale banking model outside of Africa, which is a corporate to corporate approach rather than retail banking with individuals. The Bank has expanded rapidly across the continent over the last half decade. Most recently, it snapped up the banking operations of Standard Chartered in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.
