Herbert Wigwe: Still Trailblazing @ 56

Louis Achi

Perhaps not unlike the swashbuckling adventurers who conquered unexplored territories in the tough American West, he revels in pushing frontiers. This ingrained trait remains the defining characterisation of Mr. Herbert Wigwe, Group CEO of Access Corporation. Today, the inimitable financial services industry guru turns 56 – and still blazing the trail.

But significantly, today, the world and Africa stand on the brink of substantial disruptions – and of considerable opportunity – as new business models challenge traditional templates.

This is especially more so as the Covid-19 pandemic massively unsettled conventional business playbooks and upended the global economy. As it were, only tested trailblazers with vision, knowledge and courage can provide the imperative cutting-edge leadership to ensure both stability and progression. And this is Wigwe’s forte.

As it were, a powerful vision draws in ideas, people and other resources. It creates the momentum and will to make change happen. It inspires individuals, complementary organisations and institutions to commit, to persist and to give their best. Keying into this enduring philosophy, unassuming Wigwe has also deployed impeccable professionalism, discipline and persistence to change the traditional narrative of the banking sector in Nigeria and the continent.

No less a child of providence who wields influence and authority with alluring humility and exemplary focus, the Access Corporation CEO has demonstrated with his life’s trajectory that faith, accountancy, banking and international finance fundamentally address transformation of society and the human condition for good. To-date, he unabashedly maintains this unique footing. An unwavering sense of duty, rigorous training and professionalism, demonstrable integrity and almost a child-like faith in his beloved God form the navigational compass of his life story.

Wigwe rejects staying tamely at the end of received policy prescriptions. He covets knowledge-driven innovations, proactive engagement with stake-holders, policy makers and sure-footed action. These dimensions have been boldly mirrored in his leadership of one of the continent’s now transformed financial services behemoths.

 Access Holdings Plc, trading as Access Corporation, in March, had announced its start of operations, with initial portfolio companies and its future strategy. The Corporation which sustains Access Bank’s scale and ethical standards would have portfolio companies with significant complementarities.

This allows the now enlarged ecosystem player to walk with customers across their life cycle while delivering value to stakeholders and offering a new globally connected set of services. This ecosystem offers specialised services at the same time as a seamless integrated experience to improve both relevance and convenience.

With less focus on traditional banking, more Nigerian lenders have in last few years been pressing to break the glass ceiling where competition is intercontinental. But Access Corporation’s sheer pace-setting boldness takes the cake.

The completion of its transition into a Holding Company structure led to the delisting of its entire 35.5 billion outstanding shares from the daily official list of the Nigerian Exchange. But it was obvious to most market gurus that the behemoth must have discerned great opportunity somewhere and this needed to be urgently exploited in a rapidly evolving global financial market.

The organisation, now trading under a new parent company known as Access Holdings Plc (Access Corporation) has since been relisted to reflect current realities of the market.

Access Corporation now oversees a group of portfolio companies that drive more value for customers and stakeholders. In Access Bank Group, although banking remains its core mandate, it has now been equipped to provide best-in-class, seamless and consistent customer experience, and service delivery in its operations in Nigeria, and across its 14 subsidiaries in Africa, Europe and Asia.

The new Corporation comprise verticals cutting across banking, payments, consumer lending, insurance brokerage and asset management. Access Bank Group continues to operate in Nigeria and through its subsidiaries and business offices in Africa, Europe, and Asia.

These businesses, when combined would position Access Corporation to provide banking services, including intra-and inter-Africa trade, consumer lending, payments services, and insurance services to their customers, thereby improving wealth diversification and preservation. This unique trajectory and expansion could only be guided by an adroit, firm pair of hands in the cockpit. This is Herbert Wigwe – and he is not done.

Speaking on the Corporation’s debut, an upbeat Wigwe shared some related insight: “Many of you would have heard us talk about Access Corporation earlier this year. This natural evolution of our company will ensure that we continue to use digital tools and our partnership with Fintechs to support our customers’ lifestyles outside of the banking system.

“We have set our sights on and delivered ambitious plans to transform the African financial services sector over the last 20 years. Until now, we have concentrated on banking, with the goal of becoming the World’s Most Respected African Bank. Our banking subsidiary is now Nigeria’s largest bank by assets and Africa’s largest in terms of customer base. It is now time for us to take the next transformative step, where we provide our customers with beyond banking services delivering new interconnected financial services across customers’ needs.”

Tracking back, Wigwe was appointed Access Bank chief executive officer in January 2014 and with his team choreographed the exponential growth of the bank. Under Wigwe’s circumspect guidance, the then Access Bank Plc became a leading full-service commercial bank operating through a network of more than 600 branches and service outlets, spanning three continents, 12 countries and 31 million customers.

The bank employs over 28,000 personnel in its operations in Nigeria and has subsidiaries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom (with a branch in Dubai, UAE) and representative offices in China, Lebanon and India.

Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange since 1998, the bank was a diversified financial institution which combined a strong retail customer franchise and digital platform with deep corporate banking expertise and proven risk management and capital management capabilities.

The bank then served its various markets through four business segments: Retail, Business, Commercial and Corporate. In its old structure, it had over 900,000 shareholders (including several Nigerian and International Institutional Investors) and enjoyed what is arguably Africa’s most successful banking growth trajectory in the last twelve years.

Following its merger with Diamond Bank in March 2019, Access Bank became one of Africa’s largest retail banks by retail customer base. As part of its continued growth strategy under Wigwe, giant financial services provider focused on mainstreaming sustainable business practices into its operations.

The bank strove to deliver sustainable economic growth that is profitable, environmentally responsible and socially relevant, helping customers to access more and achieve their dreams.  All these significant milestones came before it morphed into its current corporate structure.

Not surprisingly, in honour of its path-finding roles across the African continent, Access Corporation (in embryo as Access Bank) has been accorded recognition by reputable domestic and global organisations. Some of these recognitions include: 2019 World Finance Award “Best Digital Bank in Nigeria”; 2019 World Finance Award “Best Mobile App in Nigeria”; 2019 Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards; “Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement” and 2018 Euromoney Private Banking Awards “Best Commercial Banking Capabilities”.

Still others include 2018 Euromoney ‘Africa’s Best Bank for CSR’ Award; 2018 CBN ‘Sustainable Bank of the Year’; ‘Sustainable Transaction of the Year (Oil & Gas)’, ‘Sustainable Transaction of the Year (Power)’; 2018 Global Banking and Finance Review, “Best Investor Relations Bank in Nigeria”; 2018 SERAS ‘Most Sustainable Company in Africa”, 2019 CEO Awards Forum “Gender Leader of the Year” just to mention a few.

In June 2021, Wigwe emerged African Banker of Year for the second time, consecutively. A winner of one of the most prized categories at the Awards ceremony for the second consecutive year, he was recognised for his stellar leadership in the market expansion of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest bank despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commenting on the award, Group Publisher of African Banker and Chair of the Awards Committee, Omar Ben Yedder had said, “Herbert is one of the most respected bankers on the continent, without a shadow of a doubt. The Bank has gone from a lower ranked Nigerian bank when he joined the group as Deputy CEO to become one of Africa’s leading financial services groups.

“He has shown a relentless pursuit for growth, but has done so in a measured and calculated manner. What he and his team have done at Access Bank is nothing short of remarkable.”

Wigwe started his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand Associates, an international firm of Chartered Accountants. He spent over 10 years at Guaranty Trust Bank Plc where he managed several portfolios, including financial institutions, large corporates and multinationals.

He left Guaranty Trust Bank as an Executive Director to co-lead the transformation of Access Bank Plc in March 2002 as Deputy Managing Director. He was appointed Group Managing Director/CEO effective January 1, 2014.

He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Management Programme. He holds a master’s degree in Banking and International Finance from the University College of North Wales, a master’s degree in Financial Economics from the University of London and a B.Sc. degree in Accounting from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

His emergence as the CEO of Access Corporation tacitly acknowledges the capacity of focused individuals to transform their sector, effectively manage new disruptions and hence positively impact society for the better. For many years, he has provided clear, pragmatic leadership in his industrial sector.

Wigwe was born on August 15, 1966, to parents of Ikwerre descent, from Omueke Isiokpo, in Rivers State. He is happily married in a union blessed with children.