Namibia pivotal to Access Bank’s growth
Namibia is seen as a pivotal destination for Access Bank’s drive to expand throughout Africa, and has been identified as the final frontier through which the Nigerian bank intends to reach its growth potential within southern Africa.
This is according to Oluseun Onasoga, who has been tasked with overseeing the bank’s operations locally following the granting of a provisional banking licence by the Bank of Namibia earlier this month.
On Access Bank’s growth ambitions, Onasoga said Namibia would be key towards growing the lender’s presence across Africa, following expansion into Angola, Botswana and South Africa within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“Namibia helps us to complete the southern region block and then allows us - from an African trade perspective - to connect the dots between Africa, the southern region and eastern region, and from the eastern region, you can connect it to the western region, so that's one of the reasons why we are here,” a bullish Onasoga said of Access Bank’s intended presence in Namibia.
'Why not Namibia?'
The bank was not only looking to set up shop in Namibia, but also to enable a technology transfer that will allow the country to compete, he noted.
“The bank sees significant opportunity in the market in terms of bringing technology and solutions from other markets or the best of the world from other markets into Namibia and, through the mutual markets that we are creating, to take the best of Namibia also to the world,” he said.
Namibia’s market fundamentals would also help drive the expansion of Access Bank across the continent, Onasoga said.
“When you look at it from a micro perspective, then the market, the sovereign ratings of Namibia, the significant sentiments that Namibia has when you compare within the southern region also gives it a significant potential for what it is on tomorrow. So, if you look at it just from that high level, you would say 'why not Namibia?'”
Access Bank was equally keen to learn Namibia’s banking landscape, Onasoga added.
“As of today, we're a newborn baby. We would like to crawl, we would like to grow and see what the Namibian market is all about, while also providing those values.”
This is according to Oluseun Onasoga, who has been tasked with overseeing the bank’s operations locally following the granting of a provisional banking licence by the Bank of Namibia earlier this month.
On Access Bank’s growth ambitions, Onasoga said Namibia would be key towards growing the lender’s presence across Africa, following expansion into Angola, Botswana and South Africa within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“Namibia helps us to complete the southern region block and then allows us - from an African trade perspective - to connect the dots between Africa, the southern region and eastern region, and from the eastern region, you can connect it to the western region, so that's one of the reasons why we are here,” a bullish Onasoga said of Access Bank’s intended presence in Namibia.
'Why not Namibia?'
The bank was not only looking to set up shop in Namibia, but also to enable a technology transfer that will allow the country to compete, he noted.
“The bank sees significant opportunity in the market in terms of bringing technology and solutions from other markets or the best of the world from other markets into Namibia and, through the mutual markets that we are creating, to take the best of Namibia also to the world,” he said.
Namibia’s market fundamentals would also help drive the expansion of Access Bank across the continent, Onasoga said.
“When you look at it from a micro perspective, then the market, the sovereign ratings of Namibia, the significant sentiments that Namibia has when you compare within the southern region also gives it a significant potential for what it is on tomorrow. So, if you look at it just from that high level, you would say 'why not Namibia?'”
Access Bank was equally keen to learn Namibia’s banking landscape, Onasoga added.
“As of today, we're a newborn baby. We would like to crawl, we would like to grow and see what the Namibian market is all about, while also providing those values.”
