Access Bank eyes nine counties in expansion

A customer at a Transnational Bank branch in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By PATRICK ALUSHULA
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Summary

• Access Bank plans to launch into nine new counties next year as it sets eyes on areas such as trade financing following the buyout of Transnational Bank.
• The Nigerian top lender, which is rebranding Transnational Bank outlets to Access Bank Kenya following Sh1.4 billion buyout, says the expansion would help it reach out to more customers.

Access Bank plans to launch into nine new counties next year as it sets eyes on areas such as trade financing following the buyout of Transnational Bank.

The Nigerian top lender, which is rebranding Transnational Bank outlets to Access Bank Kenya following Sh1.4 billion buyout, says the expansion would help it reach out to more customers.

“We are want to launch into nine new counties in two phases starting January. Agribusiness financing has been the traditional strength, but we want to venture into new areas,” said the bank.

“Some counties will have more than one branch, depending on the opportunities we see there.”

Access Bank did not disclose how much it intends to spend on the expansion drive.

Five counties — Kiambu, Meru, Machakos, Kisumu and Nyeri —will be given priority, followed by Nyandarua, Kakamega, Bungoma and Kisii.

Access Bank group managing director Herbert Wigwe said the expansion aligns with the group strategy to become Africa's gateway to the world.

“We are excited about the potential that exists in the East-African market. We will leverage our presence in key payment corridors, and strong partnerships in non-presence countries to serve customers,” he said.

The expansion will see the bank expand its reach to 21 counties from the current 12 that are served by 24 branches.

Nairobi has the most branches (five) followed by Nakuru (four) and Uasin Gishu (three). Mombasa and Nandi have two branches each while the remaining seven counties have one each.

Transnational was strong on agribusiness financing prior to the acquisition by Acess Bank Group.

The Nigerian lender says it wants to grow into new areas such as trade financing, SME lending and corporate banking.

Transnational, with assets worth Sh9.7 billion made a loss of Sh83.9 million in the financial year ended December 2019, worse from a loss of Sh71.8 million in the previous year.

Mr Wigwe in January said Access Bank will inject fresh capital into Transnational as it seeks to strengthen the ratios of lower-tier bank and return it into profit territory.