Access Bank Boss: Keeping African Reserves Outside Cannot Work Anymore

.Says Trump’s policies a blessing in disguise for Africa

.Access Bank’s niche is in executing disciplined M&A

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna, has declared that the system of keeping African reserves outside the continent cannot work anymore.

Ogbonna made this declaration yesterday during the 2025 Access Holdings’ Media Parley with business and news editors, which had the participation of the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, Ms. Bolaji Agbede.

He also said that the policies of  President Donald Trump of United States of America are  a blessing in disguise for Africa, which the continent must take advantage of.

He also ascribed the monumental growth of Access Bank to its niche in executing disciplined mergers and acquisitions (M&As), which has enable it to be among the very top banks in Nigeria with presence in 22 African countries.

Ogbonna said: “African leaders say so much about Pan Africanism but still keep their reserves outside the continent. If they meant it, let their investments be with African banks.” 

“The system of keeping African reserves outside the continent cannot work anymore. I know that the African Union (AU) had a meeting recently where they are having those conversations. Three president are leading it and we have had audience with them and told them what we as Access Bank can do and how we can accelerate that growth.”

He added that Trump has just put fuel into fire and is getting African leaders to look inward in furtherance of intra-African trade.

Ogbonna also described what outsiders perceived as the bank’s aggressive African expansion as ‘disciplined African expansion strategy.’

According to him, the bank has envisioned creating a bank that would connect the continent even before the dawning of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

He further explained that the insight for this came from the bank’s business in the United Kingdom where Access UK is one of the largest correspondence banks into the African market and the largest correspondent market into Nigeria.   

“Today we are present in all the key markets in the continent,” he said, adding that the pulling out of international correspondent banks from Africa and the emergence of AfCFTA provided both the commercial and political environment to execute the vision.

“The AfCFTA gives it the political weight to get this conversation going on. The pull out of international correspondent banks from Africa market gives us the commercial opportunity that we have to take,” he said.

Commenting on the Access Bank’s appetite for M&As, Ogbonna clarified that banking operations are all about risks and the most a banking institution could do is to ensure that it is taking calculated risks.  

He said: “Now Access Bank might be the most active in the African continent. But we have only done 22 M&As. In these 22 that we have done there is only one that has gone south, which is Ivory Coast.

“Give us more credit that we have done 22 M&As and only one was not executed with value accretion. But at least, we did not lose money in that one that went south. I think that we have gained some credibility. To put it in context, all these M&As have created the platform for the growth the bank has gone through.   Many people said that acquiring Diamond Bank will overwhelm us. But we are still standing. Rather, acquiring Diamond Bank only made us a much larger institution.”

“It is through these M&A that is viewed as risky that we get to where we are now. At least we have demonstrated that we have capacity around it. Every bank is good at something, we just happen to be very good at this one,” he said.

Ogbonna also disclosed that Access Bank is partnering with Lagos and Ogun States that are willing to provide land and infrastructure to execute mortgage projects, and has signed agreement with Lagos State in October 2024 to start with creating 2000 homes.  

He said that Access Bank would extend the partnership to any state government that would commit to it.