Access Bank acquires majority stake in BancABC Botswana — fourth acquisition in 2021

Access Bank Plc has completed the acquisition of a majority stake of 78.15 percent in African Banking Corporation of Botswana Limited (‘BancABC Botswana’).

The bank announced this in a statement signed by Sunday Ekwochi, the company secretary, on Monday.

BancABC Botswana is a retail-focused commercial banking institution listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange.

According to the statement, it is the fifth-largest bank in Botswana and is a well-capitalised franchise poised for growth in its local market.

Ekwochi said the new acquisition would form part of the bank’s nexus for trade and payments in southern Africa and the broader Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) trade region.

He added that BancABC’s achievements in the retail banking space would provide an opportunity for Access Bank to deploy its best-in-class digital platforms and product suites to Botswana’s customers and enable it to compete strongly across its core business segments.

Speaking on the transaction, Herbert Wigwe, the group managing director of Access Bank, said: “We are pleased with the successful conclusion of this transaction which will provide significant synergies by combining BancABC Botswana’s strong retail banking operation with Access Bank’s wholesale banking capabilities.”

“It will also strengthen the quality of earnings through revenue diversification and growth in the corporate and SME banking segments for BancABC Botswana. The combination is another step towards our broader vision of becoming the World’s Most Respected African Bank.”

The recent majority stake is the fourth acquisition by the Nigerian lender in 2021. In May, Access Bank completed the acquisition of Grobank in South Africa.

Before Grobank, Acces bank had acquired Cavmont Bank, Zambia and BancABC Mozambique.

The acquisitions were part of Atlas Mara’s restructuring of assets in Africa.