The Acquisition of BancABC Botswana by Access Bank is set to position the bank to deliver a more complete set of banking solutions to its clients in and across the SADC region.
Addressing the media in Gaborone on Tuesday, the visiting Access Group chief executive officer, Mr Herbert Wigwe said they were building a bank of the future that Africans across the continent and the globe would be proud of.
He said before entering into the agreement with BancABC Botswana that a thorough market survey was done and they realised that the bank was the fifth-largest bank in the country and had a quality retail loan book with the scope for expansion into corporate and small to medium-sized enterprise lending.
Mr Wigwe said they also found out that ‘Botswana was renowned for its quality sovereign credit rating and stability’ highlighting that the country’s grey listing by the European Union was not too much of a concern, as government was working round the clock to normalise the situation.
He said the acquisition would also enhance cultural assimilation as employees of BancABC Botswana would have the opportunity to go and work outside and verse versa, the system, which he said would equip employees with much needed skills.
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He further said they remained committed to a disciplined and thoughtful expansion strategy in Africa, which they believed would create strong, sustainable returns for their shareholders.
For his part, BancABC Botswana managing director, Mr Kgotso Bannalotlhe said the acquisition would present the bank with an opportunity to be part of one of the largest banking groups in Africa, hence benefitting from Access Bank’s strong corporate banking franchise, digital banking capabilities that it was not able to access on its own.
He assured clients that their accounts were safe and the banking operations would remain stable and that customer service would also remain their priority.
When quizzed to state the amount of transactions between BancABC and Access Bank, Mr Bannalotlhe said that would be communicated after all had been completed.
