Access Bank Plc and Standard Chartered Bank have recently forged agreements pertaining to the acquisition of Standard Chartered’s stakes in its subsidiaries located in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone.
Additionally, Access Bank will be acquiring Standard Chartered’s Consumer, Private & Business Banking business in Tanzania. The completion of each transaction is contingent upon the approval of local regulators in the respective countries as well as the banking regulator in Nigeria.
The official announcement was made at Standard Chartered’s headquarters in London, where senior representatives from both banks were present. The agreement was formalized through the signatures of Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO for Africa & Middle East at Standard Chartered, and Roosevelt Ogbonna, the Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc.
Standard Chartered’s decision to divest its Sub-Saharan Africa business aligns with its global strategic objectives aimed at achieving operational efficiencies, simplifying organizational complexities, and driving scalable growth.
Access Bank is committed to providing seamless banking services and ensuring business continuity for all key stakeholders, including employees and clients of the Standard Chartered subsidiaries in the mentioned countries. Close collaboration between Access Bank and Standard Chartered Bank will be carried out over the next months to facilitate a smooth transition, with the anticipated completion of the transaction within the coming 12 months.
While speaking, Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO, Africa & Middle East, Standard Chartered said: “Following on the announcement we made in April last year, the project is now substantially completed with the announcement for the sale of the 5 markets and the furtherance of a partnership with Access Bank. This strategic decision allows us to redirect resources within the AME region to other areas with significant growth potential, ultimately enabling us to better support our clients. We look forward to working closely with Access Bank’s team over the coming months to achieve a successful conclusion to this transaction while safeguarding the interests of our valued clients and prioritising our employees.”
Roosevelt Ogbonna, the Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, provided his remarks regarding the agreement, “We are pleased to sign this agreement today and express our appreciation for being selected as the preferred partner to Standard Chartered Bank through this transaction, in which it is exiting four African markets and refocusing in one. As a distinguished regional and international bank with a rich heritage spanning over 150 years, Standard Chartered Bank has built a solid presence in these markets for over 100 years.”
This strategic transaction represents a pivotal move for Access Bank, signifying a major milestone in its efforts to develop a robust global franchise. The bank’s primary focus is on serving as a gateway for facilitating payments, investments, and trade within Africa and between Africa and other parts of the world. This endeavor is underpinned by a solid capital base, a strong emphasis on effective execution, and a commitment to delivering unparalleled customer service and maintaining top-tier governance structures.
Ogbonna noted that, “At Access Bank, we are committed to reshaping the global perception of Africa and African businesses, even as we continue to build toward our vision to be the World’s Most Respected African Bank. Our 5-year growth plan will see us build a world-class class payments gateway leveraging the power of technology and supported by a dynamic ecosystem of local and international partnerships, enabling us to serve global payments and remittances efficiently. With our recent European expansion and our deepened presence in key trading corridors across Africa, we will bridge the gap between cross-border and domestic transfers across all business segments. More importantly, we are committed to impacting our host communities positively.”
In an intentional strategic move, Standard Chartered made the decision in April 2022 to divest from several markets, including Lebanon, Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Jordan. Moreover, the bank planned to withdraw from its Consumer Private and Business Banking (CPBB) operations in Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania. Standard Chartered previously announced the sale of its Zimbabwean business in June and its Jordanian business in March of this year. With the latest announcement, Standard Chartered has effectively completed the divestment process for the markets identified in April 2022, with the exception of Côte d’Ivoire, where the bank remains actively engaged in discussions with potential buyers regarding the sale of its CPBB business in the country.
