Access Holdings sells 7.44% Ghana stake to meet CBN cap
Access Holdings has sold a 7.44% stake in its Ghanaian unit to comply with Central Bank of Nigeria capital rules, a strategic trim that analysts expect rival lenders to replicate.
Access Holdings Plc sold 12,085,318 ordinary shares, representing a 7.44% stake, in Access Bank (Ghana) Plc on July 15, 2026. The transaction, executed through the Ghana Stock Exchange with the Bank of Ghana's no-objection, reduced the parent's ownership to 85.96%. Buyers included pension funds, institutional investors, and high-net-worth individuals, with IC Securities (Ghana) Ltd acting as broker.
The divestment is a direct response to regulatory pressure from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Under the revised HoldCo framework and BOFIA Section 19(8)(c), banks are restricted from investing more than 10% of their total shareholders' funds in foreign subsidiaries. Access Holdings flagged this breach at its full-year 2025 results and was given a 12-month window to remediate.
Chief Blakey Ijezie, founder of Okwudili Ijezie & Co, described the sale as "a strategic capital optimisation exercise rather than a withdrawal from Ghana." The group retains firm majority control while freeing up capital. At the end of 2025, the group's Capital Adequacy Ratio stood at 18.3%, with its banking subsidiary at 21%, following a recent N40 billion private placement.
Access Holdings is unlikely to be the last Nigerian lender forced to trim overseas assets. Abiodun Ogunniyi, head of research at GTI Limited, noted that "Similar moves might come from UBA and probably also GTCO, given that those are our banks with the most overseas investments." Ogunniyi added that Access’s earnings are increasingly driven by Nigeria, the UK, Europe, Gambia, and Tanzania, with the UK operation now surpassing Nigeria in profitability.
For Access Holdings shareholders, the stake sale resolves a portion of a regulatory overhang that had briefly clouded dividend prospects. Ijezie noted the move does not weaken the long-term investment case, as payouts will still hinge on earnings growth, capital strength, and management's resource allocation.
Managing Director of Access Bank (Ghana), Pearl Nkrumah, said the transaction "deepens local ownership and liquidity in the bank’s shares, and keeps management focused on turning its scale into value for stakeholders." The critical metric for investors now is how efficiently management redeploys the freed capital, and how quickly the group can clear the BOFIA threshold to unlock the next dividend decision.
