Access Bank Plc has raised $228 million through a rights issue of 17.8 billion ordinary shares. This operation is intended to help the bank double its asset share outside its domestic market by 2027 and accelerate its entry into new markets such as Morocco, Egypt, and the United States.
Nigeria’s largest bank by assets has thus raised its capital above the new regulatory threshold of $322.8 million (500 billion nairas). The bank’s share capital, now at $387.4 million (600 billion nairas), is 20% above the minimum required for international banks operating in Nigeria.
In addition to these targeted new markets, the bank has acquired Standard Chartered Bank’s operations in Angola and Sierra Leone this year. It has also announced plans to acquire Kenya Commercial Bank’s stake in the National Bank of Kenya (NBK), pending approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
Currently present in 23 countries in Africa and beyond, the bank stated in its press release that this expansion is based on a clear Pan-African vision: to strengthen economic exchanges between regions of the continent while integrating into global financial circuits.
As a reminder, the Nigerian financial group had targeted a total of eight markets for medium-term penetration in 2021: Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Angola, Namibia, and Ethiopia.
