The news:
- Access Holdings announced on Thursday, January 17, 2024, that its subsidiary, Access Bank, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Finance Trust Bank in Uganda.
- By the time the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bank of Uganda approve the acquisition, Access Bank will own 80% of the East African Finance Trust Bank shares.
- Sunday Ekwochi, Secretary at Access Holdings, revealed, in a statement filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and made available to the investment public, that the definitive agreement will involve Finance Trust Bank's institutional shareholders.
This agreement comes as commercial banks in Uganda struggle to meet new minimum capital requirements. Thus, this presents Finance Trust Bank and its stakeholders with an opportunity to attract a significant capital injection.
As part of the conditions for the deal, both banks will be combining their technological resources.
Finance Trust Bank will benefit from Access Bank's presence in more than 20 countries, allowing it to leverage the Nigerian commercial bank's significant platform to expand its operations.
The partnership between Access Bank and the Ugandan commercial bank will promote financial inclusion, product innovation, and customer focus.
The deal, expected to close within the first six months of 2024, will allow the Ugandan commercial bank's institutional shareholders to exit and become strategic, long-term shareholders.
Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director of Access Bank, stated that the acquisition is a significant milestone for the Nigerian bank because it will strengthen its regional presence in the East African Community trading region.
He added that this transaction brings Access Bank closer to achieving its five-year strategic goal of entering key African markets.
Finance Trust Bank was founded in 1984 as Uganda Women's Finance Trust (UWFT), an NGO dedicated to providing low-income women with basic loans and deposit facilities. It later became a minority depository institution (MDI) in 2004 and was renamed Uganda Finance Trust. It became a commercial bank — Finance Trust Bank-(FTB) — in 2013.
Finance Trust Bank is a Tier 1 financial institution licenced and regulated by the Bank of Uganda. With 35 branches across the country, it currently serves over 500,000 clients, up to 40% of whom are female.
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Speaking on behalf of Finance Trust Bank, Annet Nakawunde Mulindwa, Managing Director of Finance Trust Bank, said this alliance will consolidate the position of the self-proclaimed women-centred bank in the African financial landscape to offer more innovative products and services to its customers and stakeholders, especially women.
Meanwhile, on January 17, 2024, Access Corporation, Access Bank’s parent company, announced that it had rebranded Quickbucks to Oxygen X, a standalone lending platform to rival apps like OPay and Carbon in Nigeria.
Earlier this month, Access Bank Zambia obtained all necessary regulatory approvals and completed the acquisition of African Banking Corporation Zambia Limited, also known as Atlas Mara Zambia.
