When asked to name two Nigerian corporate leaders whose leadership skills have long passed into the realms of magic and fantasy, any knowledgeable person would point out Herbert Wigwe, the smooth Group Managing Director (GMD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the prestigious Access Bank Group.
With flexible fingers in the pies of the banking sectors in other regions of Africa and Asia, Wigwe’s Access Bank is set to occupy a front seat in France, Paris for that matter.
While it is true that President Emmanuel Macron is exerting the best of France’s human resources department to solidify a fine and lasting alliance with Nigeria, it is also true that many Nigerian corporations are taking advantage of this budding relationship. Herbert Wigwe is at the forefront of this group and has gone further than any other.
According to reports, Wigwe has succeeded in getting a spot for his Access Bank in Paris, France. More than a representative bank, the branch is expected to grow into a proper foothold gradually. Wigwe would then stretch the ends of Access Bank into all of France and then all of Europe. Moreover, although United Bank for Africa (UBA) and First Bank already made the same move and have offices in Paris, Wigwe plans to build as strong an Access Bank presence in France as there is in Nigeria.
This is the latest move of the easygoing man of Ikwerre descent. However, it might be described as only an echo compared to the boom he has in mind. One can extrapolate this from his acquisitions in the last four years and the underground moves in Asia (China, India, Lebanon) and the Middle East (United Arab Emirates) that Wigwe wants to erect a cross-continental legacy for Access Bank.
Little wonder the French government is delighted to have a working relationship with people like Herbert Wigwe. Nigerians are inherently ambitious and driven, but Wigwe has taken it up several notches.
