Access Holdings drives SMEs, intra-African trade

…Subsidiary targets November for trade conference

Access Holdings Plc, the parent company of Access Bank Plc, has announced a series of initiatives aimed at empowering small businesses across Africa and enhancing intra-African trade.

During a recent media roundtable, the leadership team, including Bolaji Agbede, acting GCEO, and Roosevelt Ogbonna, group managing director/CEO, shared insights on the company’s strategic priorities for the coming years.

“Our commitment to fostering economic growth in Africa is well established,” said Agbede. “We believe that by supporting small businesses, we can create lasting economic value and drive meaningful change across the continent.”

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Ogbonna outlined the strategic priorities for 2023–2027, which focus on infrastructure investments, retail banking, and small business empowerment. “We aim to provide an enabling environment for small businesses to access new markets on the continent,” he stated. To facilitate this, Access Bank will host a trade conference in November, designed to connect small businesses and stimulate intra-African trade.

The bank’s commitment to infrastructure investment is evident, with 61 new branches opened in Nigeria this year alone, despite challenging economic conditions. “This expansion showcases our dedication to enhancing retail banking and improving customer access to financial services,” Ogbonna added. Furthermore, the bank is in the process of establishing fully digitalised branches, known as ‘branches of the future,’ which will leverage advanced technology to increase financial access for underserved communities.

Access Holdings is also focused on enhancing regional trade dynamics. By fostering partnerships and collaborations among small businesses, the company aims to create a robust network that supports economic development across Africa. “We are committed to building a sustainable ecosystem that empowers businesses and drives growth,” Ogbonna emphasised.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.