Access Holdings to Exit Foreign Market as CBN 10% Cap Forces Review of Overseas Subsidiaries

Access Holdings Plc is considering exiting at least one foreign market as it moves to comply with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulations limiting banks’ equity investments in overseas subsidiaries to 10% of shareholders’ funds.

 

The Chairman of Access Holdings, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, disclosed this in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the African Financial Industry Summit in Luanda, Angola, last week.

 

He said the banking group has identified at least one underperforming subsidiary that could be disposed of as part of efforts to meet the regulatory limit.

 

“If a subsidiary cannot meet its cost of capital and the strategic objectives for which it is set up, you should be ready to take a decision to exit,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.

 

“Do we have one or two troublesome subsidiaries? I can think of one,” he added.

 

The move comes as Access Bank’s investments in foreign subsidiaries stood at 19.4% of shareholders’ funds as of May, significantly above the CBN’s 10% threshold. The bank was given 12 months to comply.

 

Speaking during a conference call on Thursday, the Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, Innocent Ike, said the group is pursuing three strategies to meet the requirement.

 

According to him, the strategies include recalling surplus capital from overseas subsidiaries, divesting minority shareholdings and restructuring some businesses.

 

Ike said the group has already completed one capital repatriation exercise involving six targeted subsidiaries and is engaging regulators in five countries to facilitate the return of excess capital to Nigeria.

 

He said the group is working to bring the ratio within statutory limits ahead of the March deadline.

 

“We gave ourselves up till January next year, and I think we’re completing this ahead of schedule,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.

 

Despite the potential exit, Aig-Imoukhuede maintained that the group’s international portfolio remains healthy, noting that dynamic portfolio management requires annual review for sustainable returns.

 

Access Holdings has previously exited foreign markets when operations failed to meet strategic expectations, including the sale of its loss-making Ivory Coast subsidiary to Cameroon’s Afriland First Group SA in 2014 after a similar CBN directive.

 

In July 2026, Access Holdings completed the sale of a 7.44% stake in its Ghanaian subsidiary, Access Bank Ghana, representing 12,085,318 ordinary shares, to pension funds, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The transaction received regulatory clearance, including a no-objection from the Bank of Ghana.