Nigeria’s largest retail lender Access Bank acquired Kenya’s Transnational Bank starting its plans to open shop in all major Eastern Africa markets.
The bank is in the process of acquiring 93.57 per cent shareholding in Kenya’s private owned Transnational Bank at an undisclosed fee as its further eyes Tanzania and Uganda.
The Kenyan acquisition is expected to be concluded in the next 30 to 60 days as it awaits regulatory approvals.
The bank said it was seeking to expand in the region through acquisitions and setting up greenfield operations so as to deepen competition for customers with local rivals.
The lender said it had drawn a five-year plan from 2018-2022 which seeks to raise its retail and wholesale banking business and position itself as the world’s most respected African bank.
Access Bank controls over $13 billion worth of assets and over 27 million customers. In its plan to track record in financing upstream and downstream fuel projects, the bank is eyeing East Africa’s oil and gas sectors.
Access Bank Group’s Deputy Managing Director Roosevelt Ogbonna said Kenya is one of the markets that the bank is seeking to enter as part of its Pan-African expansion plan.
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“As you all know Kenya has a significant market share within the East African corridor and that is why we are going there. I think the idea is really not just about Kenya. As part of our five-year strategy we expect to be Africa’s gateway to the world and to drive international and global collaborations and that is what you see playing out with Kenya,” said Mr Ogbonna.
From January to September this year Access Bank recorded 44 per cent growth in net profit to $250 million which was supported by growth in its retail and wholesale banking business.
Other Nigerian banks operating in Kenya include United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) which acquired 70 per cent shareholding in Fina Bank Group in 2013.
Access Bank also has a presence in Rwanda, Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and the United Kingdom, with representative offices in Lebanon, India and China.
