Access Bank
Encyclopedia
Access Bank Plc., commonly known as Access Bank, is a commercial bank
Commercial bank
After the implementation of the Glass–Steagall Act, the U.S. Congress required that banks engage only in banking activities, whereas investment banks were limited to capital market activities. As the two no longer have to be under separate ownership under U.S...

 in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. The bank is one of the leading financial services providers in Nigeria, with an asset base in excess of US$4.8 billion, as of May 2009.

Locations

The bank's headquarters is located in Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

, Nigeria's commercial capital. Access Bank has in excess of 118 bank branches in Nigeria's major commercial centers.

Starting in 2007, Access Bank began an International expansion drive. As of May 2009, it has subsidiaries in Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

, The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....

, Ivory Coast, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

.
  • Côte d'Ivoire
    Côte d'Ivoire
    The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

     — Omnifinance Bank.
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo - Banque Privée du Congo.
  • Rwanda — Access Bank Rwanda
    Access Bank Rwanda
    -Overview:The bank is one of the ten licensed commercial banks in the Republic of Rwanda. As of January 2009, it was the fourth largest commercial bank in the country, based on assets.-History:...

    .
  • Sierra Leone — Access Bank Sierra Leone has a head office and one branch.
  • The Gambia - Access Bank Gambia
  • Ghana
    Ghana
    Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

     - Access Bank Ghana
  • Sierra Leone - Access Bank Sierra Leone
  • United Kingdom - Access Bank has a head office and one branch.
  • Zambia - Access Bank Zambia
    Access Bank Zambia
    Access Bank Zambia Limited, commonly referred to as Access Bank Zambia, is a commercial bank in Zambia. It is one of the eighteen commercial banks licensed by the Bank of Zambia, the national banking regulator....

  • Burundi - Finbank Burundi

History

The bank received its license from the Central Bank of Nigeria
Central Bank of Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria was established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on July 1, 1959.The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN act of 1958 is to: issue legal tender, maintain the external reserves of the country, promote monetary stability and a sound...

 in 1989, and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998.
  • 2002: Access Bank was taken over by a core of new management lead by Aig and Herbert.
  • 2005: Access Bank acquired Marina Bank and Capital Bank (the former Commercial Bank (Crédit Lyonnais
    Crédit Lyonnais
    Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993...

     Nigeria)) by merger.
  • 2007: Access Bank established a subsidiary in Banjul
    Banjul
    -Transport:Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of ECOWAS.Banjul International Airport...

    , The Gambia. This bank now has a head office and four branches, and the bank has pledged to open another four branches.
  • 2008: Access Bank acquired 88% of the shares of Omnifinance Bank, which was established in 1996. It also acquired 90% of Banque Privée du Congo, which South African investors had established in 2002. Access Bank acquired 75% of the shares of Bancor SA, in Rwanda
    Rwanda
    Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

    . Bancor had been established in 1995 and reorganized in 2001. In September Access Bank opened a subsidiary in Freetown
    Freetown
    Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...

    , Sierra Leone, and then in October, the bank opened subsidiaries in Lusaka
    Lusaka
    Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres . It has a population of about 1.7 million . It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head...

    , Zambia and in London, United Kingdom.
  • 2009: Finbank (Burundi) joined the Access Bank network
  • 2011: Access Bank in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria to acquire Intercontinental Bank Plc.
  • Further to the approval of the shareholders of both banks, court sanction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria and approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities & Exchange Commission, Access Bank Plc (“Access”) and Intercontinental Bank Plc (“Intercontinental Bank”) announce the completion of the recapitalization of Intercontinental Bank and the acquisition of 75% majority interest in Intercontinental Bank by Access Bank Plc. Effective today, Intercontinental Bank (including all its assets, liabilities and undertakings) becomes a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc.


The combined effect of the restoration of Net Asset Value (NAV) to zero by AMCON and N50billion capital injection by Access Bank Plc is that Intercontinental Bank now operates as a well capitalized bank, with shareholders funds of N50billion and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 24%, well above the 10% regulatory threshold.

Access Bank Group

Access Bank Plc. is the flagship company of the financial conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...

 known as Access Bank Group
Access Bank Group
Access Bank Group, is a financial services organization in West Africa, Central Africa and East Africa. The Group's headquarters are located on Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria, with subsidiaries in Nigeria, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, The Gambia,...

. The member companies of the group include the following businesses:
The stock of the Group trades on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), under the symbol: ACCESS.
  • Access Bank Plc. - Nigeria
  • Omnifinance Bank - Côte d'Ivoire
  • Banque Privée du Congo - Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Access Bank Rwanda
    Access Bank Rwanda
    -Overview:The bank is one of the ten licensed commercial banks in the Republic of Rwanda. As of January 2009, it was the fourth largest commercial bank in the country, based on assets.-History:...

     - Rwanda
  • Access Bank Sierra Leone - Sierra Leone
  • Access Bank Gambia - The Gambia
  • Access Bank United Kingdom - United Kingdom
  • Access Bank Zambia
    Access Bank Zambia
    Access Bank Zambia Limited, commonly referred to as Access Bank Zambia, is a commercial bank in Zambia. It is one of the eighteen commercial banks licensed by the Bank of Zambia, the national banking regulator....

    - Zambia
  • Finbank Burundi - Burundi
  • Access Bank Ghana - Ghana
  • United Securities Limited - Nigeria
  • Access Homes & Mortgages Limited - Nigeria
  • Access Investment & Securities - Nigeria

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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