THE GLOBAL AMBITION AMONG NIGERIAN BANKS

Nigerian Banks Deepen Global Ambition

Leveraging on their swollen capital that is expressed in both tiers 1 and 11, Nigerian banks are touted as the emerging frontiers in the global financial market.
Many analysts think the offshore business expansion of these banks couldn't have come at a more auspicious time.
Challenged by enhanced financial muscle that could hardly be maximally invested in the Nigerian economy where the growth of most industries are impaired by the difficult operating environment and the fact that the population is grossly under-banked, banks that are eager to optimise returns for their shareholders must seek external businesses. That, the Nigerian banks have been doing.

The Global Foray

The global foray cum business expansion of Nigerian banks is essentially one of the offshoots of consolidation. What started with the mushrooming of local branches has today gone far across West Africa, Europe and the United States.
Before consolidation, there were only two Nigerian banks with an active presence in London: First Bank and Union Bank. At present, four more banks have been granted licence by Financial Services Authority (FSA) of that country to establish UK branches.
Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank and Intercontinental Bank are already in UK. Access Bank is planning to open a full fledged subsidiary in that country before the end of this year.
Erastus Akingbola, Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, the latest financial institution to enter London, said the new opening signalled the bank's commitment to emerge as one of the top 100 banks in the world.
Nigerian banks now have their subsidiaries in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Ghana, other regions of Africa, London, Paris and New York among others.
The rationale for the ascendancy of Nigerian banks can be seen in their rapid rise by the key indicators. The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said, "The number of depositors increased from 13 million in 2003 to 24 million in 2007. Total bank deposits soared from N1.4 trillion in 2003 to N4.5 trillion in 2007 while bank credits have increased from N1.9 trillion in 2003 to N4.6 trillion in 2007"
Recent revelations by The Banker Magazine also attest to the rising international profile of Nigerian banks. The Banker reported that Nigerian banks' total tier one capital has more than doubled to $11.29bn in 2008 (from $5.38bn in 2007), and that, consequently, Nigeria's share of sub-Saharan tier one capital has risen to 34 percent, from 24 percent in 2007. In contrast, it reported that South Africa's share dropped to 62 percent, down from 71 percent, over the same period.
Access Bank achieved the record of world's fastest growing bank for the African region in that report. Industry watchers are of the opinion that Access Bank has by the opening of its full fledged subsidiary in Zambia last week, in a ceremony that was attended by the country's Ag. President, Mr. Rupiah Banda, and Governor, Bank of Zambia, Dr. Caleb Fundanga, has given fresh impetus to the global financial ambition of Nigerian banks.
"I must say that by going into Zambia, Access Bank will be a strong factor for the trade that exists between the SADC and the East African region, and that is positive for the Nigerian banking industry," said Dr. Cletus Obegwu, economist and financial consultant.

Access Bank's Cross Border Inroads

Access Bank (Zambia) Ltd is the seventh regional subsidiary of the bank since the commencement of its African expansion drive in 2006. Access Bank holds a controlling 75 percent stake in Access Bank (Zambia) Ltd while a consortium of Zambian investors holds the remaining 25 percent.
The bank's managing director, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said in an anvestors' forum at The Dorchester, London, recently that, "Access Bank's target is to be one of the top five banks out of Africa that will compete favourably with HSBC, one of the world's largest commercial banks, in the next 20 to 30 years".
The MD said from 10,000 shareholders in 2002 when the current management took over the old Access Bank, there are now over 500,000 shareholders with forecasts that this will grow to 2.5 million in the next two years.
Access Bank's shareholders' funds have also grown from N25 billion in 2005 to over N160 billion last year.
"We went to the market and raised some money which we will use for expansions in Africa. Our budget for the expansions is $200 million," said Hebert Wigwe, the bank's deputy managing director.
Access Bank reportedly spent $10 million to set up in Zambia and aims to spend another $26 million on new branches. Access Bank Zambia's Managing Director David Chewe, said the bank would list on the Lusaka Stock Exchange by 2012 and that it would open six branches this year and 10 more in 2009.
Aig-Imoukhuede said the bank is targeting post-conflict African countries such as Congo, Rwanda and Burundi for expansion because of the potential for political stability and economic growth.
"After a war, experience shows that the probably of another war is lower. This offers a good ground for investment and growth," he said, pointing out that Zambian government officials recently paid a visit to the government of Nigeria because of the investment Access Bank is pumping into the economy."

The MD added that because of the recruitment policy of the bank and its emphasis on human resource development, "the bank will in the next five years boast of over 6000 employees in its global operations that will be rated among the best and brightest not just in Africa but all over the world".
Access Bank through its operations in Zambia has made a grand entry into the SADC region after a recent announcement of its acquisition of Omnifinance Bank, Cote d'Ivoire; Bancor Bank, Rwanda; Banque PrivÈe Du Congo; spread across the Western, Central and Eastern African sub-regions respectively.
Access Bank had announced in May this year the acquisition of a majority stake in three foreign banks namely Banque Privee du Congo, Rwanda's Bancor Bank and Omnifinance of Ivory Coast in a bid to become a bigger regional player.
The bank is also in Sierra Leone and The Gambia - and it is currently rated one of the top four banks in The Gambia even though its foray into the country is barely up to a year. Access Bank Gambia, according to reports, has successfully deployed Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Sale (PoS) Terminals, executed in partnership with InterSwitch, a leading switching platform in Africa with tested first class e-payment solutions.
Ag. President, Republic of Zambia, Mr. Rupiah Banda, expressed satisfaction at the coming of Access Bank into Zambia, adding that the socio - economic climate in that country is conducive for business and assured the bank that the government would continue to make the country attractive to investors through implementation of economic friendly policies and people oriented programmes.

Chairman, Access Bank (Zambia) Ltd, Mr. Caleb Mulenga, assured Zambians of the immense benefits that the entry of the bank will bring to them and other economies in the SADC region, and enjoined Zambians to patronise the bank. "With the entry of Access Bank into Zambia, the pace of economic development will become accelerated because this is a bank with high entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to economic development" said Mulenga.
Access Bank is also committed to leveraging its international alliances and partnerships for the benefit of the Zambian economy by attracting critical financing that will contribute to the socio - economic growth objectives of the country. It will be recalled that the bank is in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to provide capacity development and managerial assistance to women in Business.

Challenges Of Regional And Global Expansion

The challenges Access Bank will be facing in its globalisation spree are related to the nation's banking industry. Nigerian banks will face about the same challenges even though they will come out of it differently, according to the circumstances of each organisation.
Obegwu said one of the major challenges that Nigerian banks will face in the global expansion plan is how they can convert their phenomenal growth into actual profits.
The Banker Magazine reported that Nigerian banks are struggling to maintain their rate of return on capital which it said dropped 21.9 percent in 2007 to 18.6 percent in 2008.
But investors in Access Bank seem not to have cause to worry about the earnings capacity of the organisation.

Access Bank reported a profit before tax of N19 billion for its operations, in the past year to March 2008, indicating an increase of 136 percent over the N 8 billion recorded in 2007.
The bank also recorded remarkable improvements in gross earnings which grew by 111 percent to N 57.9 billion from N 27.8 billion in the previous years. The directors declared a total sum of N10, 492,627,600 as dividend payment, translating to 65 kobo for every 50 kobo ordinary shares held by shareholders.
The Unaudited Results for the First Quarter Ended June 30, 2008 showed profit after tax increasing to N 6.1 billion from NGN 3.1 billion reported in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Gross earnings on its part increased to N 20.6 billion from N11.1 billion reported a year ago.
The next challenge faced by the industry is that of convincing the international community that the operators are able and ready to meet the rigorous regulatory requirements of the major financial centres. That is an area the management of Access Bank said it has no problems with.
The Nigerian government has shown interest towards changing the corruption-prone perception of the country. That is helping the global penetration of Nigerian banks.
The thinking by most industry observers is that with globalisation the order of the day, Nigerian banks have no choice than to key in. Access Bank is one of the forerunners in that direction. Some of the industry operators will have a lesson or two to learn from the way the bank has structured its global foray, which is in such a manner as Obegwu put it, is not aimed at expansion for its own sake but to guarantee superior value to shareholders.