FirstBank Completes Integration of African Subsidiaries

Nume Ekeghe

FirstBank of Nigeria Limited has announced the completion integration of its subsidiaries in six African countries.
A statement from the bank explained that the move was in line with its strategy to become the leading sub-Sahara African financial services group in Africa.

FirstBank has its footprints in the United Kingdom and France through its subsidiary, FBN Bank (UK) Limited with branches in London and Paris; and in Johannesburg, Beijing and Abu Dhabi with its Representative Offices there.

In October 2011, the bank acquired a new subsidiary, Banque International de Credit (BIC), one of the leading banks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In November 2013, FirstBank acquired ICB in The Gambia, Sierra-Leone, Ghana and Guinea, and in 2014, the Bank acquired ICB in Senegal.

Speaking on this development, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, said: “FirstBank’s expansion into the Sub-Saharan Africa Markets clearly aligns with our strategic ambition to steadily broaden and build a more diverse footprint across Africa. We are committed to developing a multi-local business model that broadens our geographic revenue base while providing bespoke financial services solutions across the value chains of our customers with cross-border financing needs.”

FirstBank is a well-diversified financial services group and maintains the leading position in many of the markets in which it operates with a market leading distribution capability and a well-recognised brand with a large customer base.

With over 800 business locations in Nigeria, all on-line and real time, the bank has one of the largest domestic sales networks in the country. As a market leader in the financial services sector, FirstBank pioneered initiatives in international money transfer and electronic banking in the country, serving more than 10 million customer accounts.

“The bank’s strategy has been focused on restructuring the business to take advantage of growth opportunities within the industry, pursuing business line expansion across strategic business units, continuously implementing a systematic international expansion plan, sequencing its growth initiatives across defined metrics, as well as building synergies and cross-selling across the FirstBank Group.

“This strategy supports the bank’s vision of being the leading sub-Sahara African financial services group. Continued implementation of this strategy will produce long-term profitable growth as well as build great franchises and deliver value to all stakeholders. The focus of the bank in terms of international expansion remains the financial services markets in sub-Saharan Africa,” the statement added.