One year after it announced its plan to sell its subsidiaries in Sierra Leone and six other countries in Sub Sahara and the Middle East (AME), Standard Chartered Bank has unveiled Access Bank as the buyer of the sub Saharan subsidiaries.
The British multinational bank made the announcement on Friday, according to a report by Reuters, noting that it had reached an agreement with the Nigerian owned conglomerate to divest the businesses that also include subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon and Gambia.
The deal, according to a statement, also include Standard Chartered’s consumer, private & business banking business in Tanzania, a subsidiary of Access Holdings, the parent company of Access Bank.
“Access Bank will provide a full range of banking services and continuity for key stakeholders including employees and clients of Standard Chartered’s businesses across the five aforementioned countries,” it said in the statement.
The announcement by Standard Chartered to exit the seven countries was first made in April last year. It said at the time that it was part of its effort to improve profits by focusing on faster-growing markets in the region.
The decision also raised concerns among staff and customers of the bank in Sierra Leone and the other affected nations about uncertainty of the potential new owner, vis-à-vis security of savings and preservation of jobs and social benefits.
“This strategic decision allows us to redirect resources within the AME region to other areas with significant growth potential,” the bank’s regional CEO for AME, Sunil Kaushal, was quoted in the statement released on Friday.
No amount was disclosed for the deal, which is expected to conclude by next year.
Reports also indicate that the deals are subject to regulatory approvals in each of the individual countries involved, as well as in Nigeria.
Access Bank is one of Nigeria’s leading corporate banks, wholly owned subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc. It says it operates through a network of more than 700 branches and service outlets, spanning 3 continents, 17 markets and 52 million customers.
As at 31 March 2022, Access Bank had total assets of approximately US $28.8 billion, information on its website shows.
Access Bank opened its operations in Sierra Leone in 2007, as its third licensed bank on the African continent. As of March 2021, the bank had six branches in the country, including in the southern Bo district and in the airport town of Lungi in the north of the country.
“With our recent European expansion and our deepened presence in key trading corridors across Africa, we will bridge the gap between cross-border and domestic transfers across all business segments,” Access Group Managing Director Roosevelt Ogbonna was quoted in the statement announcing the Standard Chartered deal.
