Access Holdings completes acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank’s Angolan operations

Access Holdings has officially completed the acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank’s (StanChart) operations in Angola, following the successful transfer of banking assets to its commercial banking division, Access Bank.

The deal, which was first announced four months ago, was finalized in a statement released by Access Holdings on Wednesday.

The acquisition strengthens Access Bank’s presence in Africa, as the Angolan market becomes a significant addition to its expanding portfolio.

Additionally, transactions related to the purchase of StanChart’s subsidiaries in The Gambia, Cameroon, and its consumer and private banking operations in Tanzania are expected to be concluded soon, further enhancing Access Bank’s footprint across the continent.

The new acquisitions come with the advantage that could help “strengthen the quality of our earnings from both countries by significantly growing our share of the Corporate and SME banking in the two markets,” said the chief executive of Access Bank, Roosevelt Ogbonna.

“The combinations represent another significant step towards our broader vision of becoming the World’s Most Respected African Bank,” Mr Ogbonna further stated.

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West Africa’s biggest lender by assets is steadily deepening its foothold in Southern Africa, regarded as the continent’s most lucrative region for banking business.

Procuring StanChart’s unit in Angola, the region’s largest oil producer is strategic to firming up its grip on the market, crucial to its ambition of ranking among the top banks in the country in the next few years.

The lender already runs a local subsidiary called Access Bank Plc in the country.

StanChart’s determination to offload a good number of its banking assets matches Access Holdings’ hunger to scale at a time when the African Continental Free Trade Area is promising businesses unprecedented access to trade flows within Africa.

The London-based financial institution disclosed on Wednesday it is considering selling its wealth and retail banking operations in Zambia, Botswana and Uganda to finance “incremental investment in its leading wealth management business.”

In October, Mr Ogbonna said during a parley with journalists that Access Bank will issue its maiden dollar bond in two tranches in Nigeria beginning next year.