…Aig-Imoukhuede says era of expansion is over as group shifts focus to shareholder value and profitability
Access Holdings Plc has declared an end to its aggressive acquisition strategy, signaling a new phase focused on profitability, shareholder returns and operational efficiency as it seeks to become Africa’s next banking powerhouse.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Group Chairman, said the financial services group now aims to benchmark itself against Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets, rather than competing solely with domestic rivals.
Speaking with financial journalists after the company’s fourth Annual General Meeting in Lagos, Aig-Imoukhuede said Access has completed its scale-building phase after more than two decades of expansion driven by mergers and acquisitions.
According to the chairman, the group’s strategy is now shifting from building size to extracting value from the vast platform it has created.
“Our ambition was never for people to see Access simply as a great Nigerian bank and compare us with GTCO or Zenith. Our ambition was for Access to be viewed alongside Standard Bank of Africa,” he said.
Aig-Imoukhuede noted that while Standard Bank spent more than 170 years building its continental footprint, Access compressed a similar expansion journey into about 30 years through an aggressive acquisition strategy.
Between 2002 and 2025, the group executed about 20 mergers and acquisitions, helping it establish operations across Africa and key international markets.
“We’ve done the scale stage of the evolution. Now we’re doing the value part of it,” he stated.
The chairman acknowledged that the expansion strategy came with trade-offs.
Repeated capital raises required to finance acquisitions diluted earnings per share and weighed on return on equity, two metrics closely watched by investors and often reflected in share price performance.
He admitted that while the acquisitions strengthened the group’s long-term position, they also contributed to the valuation gap between Access Holdings and some of its peers.
However, he argued that the strategy laid the foundation for sustainable future growth and stronger shareholder returns.
Going forward, Access Holdings intends to focus on improving profitability, return on equity, earnings per share and cost efficiency.
Aig-Imoukhuede cited the group’s recent acquisition of a Mauritius-based bank as one of the final major transactions under its expansion programme.
While such deals can temporarily suppress returns, he said they provide access to strategic international business corridors that few African banks outside South Africa can access.
Still, he made it clear that the group is now drawing a line under its acquisition-led growth model.
“This is the time for value extraction,” he said.
“I want you, over the next three or four years, to come back and say, ‘Access, we are tired of this high performance; we want you to start acquiring again.’ Then we will consider expansion of that nature.”
The shift comes against the backdrop of a record financial performance by the group.
Access Holdings reported:
- Gross earnings of N5.53 trillion
- Profit before tax exceeding N1 trillion
- Total assets of more than N51.5 trillion
The chairman said these figures demonstrate the strength of the franchise and provide a solid platform for improved shareholder value creation.
Addressing questions about the company’s large share count, Aig-Imoukhuede confirmed that share reconstruction remains a potential option for the future.
However, he stressed that the timing must be right, noting that it would be inappropriate to pursue such a move shortly after raising fresh capital from investors.
