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Access Bank Plans to Sell Minority Stakes in African Subsidiaries to Local Investors

The Nigerian lender says it will offer local investors up to 25% of most of its African banks as it shifts from rapid expansion to capital management, a model Botswana's listing rules already pushed it toward.

By Tumisang Bogwasi November 10, 2026 3 min read

Photo: Axl PGB / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

LAGOS – Access Bank plans to sell minority stakes of up to 25% in most of its African banking subsidiaries to local investors, as the Nigerian lender moves from a decade of acquisitions toward extracting more value and capital from the businesses it already owns.

Highlights

Access Bank aims to sell up to 25% of most African subsidiaries locally.
Kenya, the DRC and Cameroon are among units where it holds near-full stakes.
The group says the plan is about capital and value, not retreat.
Access already cut its Botswana stake to 70% to meet listing rules.

What the bank said

Seyi Kumapayi, who oversees Access Bank’s African subsidiaries, told The Africa Report that the bank intends to dilute its holdings in nearly all of its African units, including those in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, where it owns close to 100%. He said the move was not a retreat but a way to give local investors a bigger share in businesses the group built or bought during its expansion.

Kumapayi was promoted to deputy managing director for African subsidiaries in October, according to the bank, with a mandate to improve profitability and capital productivity across the network. In a separate interview with BusinessDay, he said the group’s priority was to make every standalone subsidiary profitable after years of buying into new markets.

The capital question at home

The plan follows disclosures on parent Access Holdings’ 5 November earnings call. Legit.ng, citing Bloomberg, reported that the group plans to pull excess capital from subsidiaries in seven countries and is considering selling minority stakes in five while keeping at least 80% of each. It is also weighing the sale of one foreign subsidiary to comply with a Central Bank of Nigeria rule that limits how much Nigerian banks can invest offshore. The group has not named that business.

Access sold a 7.44% stake in Access Bank Ghana in July, Legit.ng reported.

The Botswana precedent

Botswana offers an early example of the model. Access Bank Botswana is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange, which since 2019 has required listed companies to keep at least 30% of their shares in public hands. In June 2024 Access Bank Plc sold 59 million shares for P116 million, cutting its stake from 78.15% to 70% to comply, TechCabal reported at the time.

Why it matters

Pan-African banks have used acquisitions to build regional footprints quickly. Selling minority stakes locally could deepen thin stock markets, give pension funds and other domestic investors access to banking assets, and free up capital for the parent at a time when Nigerian regulators are pressing banks to recapitalise.

For host countries, more local ownership may also ease concerns about foreign control of systemically important lenders. How much value Access can unlock is likely to depend on local market depth and pricing, which in smaller exchanges can be a constraint. It was not clear from the published reports which markets would come first or when.