Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest lender by assets, has acquired Standard Chartered Tanzania’s Consumer, Private, and Business Banking (CPBB) business, deepening its expansion drive in East Africa.
The deal, announced on Monday via the bank’s Tanzania branch Instagram handle, marks another milestone in Access Bank’s regional strategy and comes just weeks after a similar acquisition in Kenya.
The lender described the acquisition as one that “significantly expands its capacity to offer inclusive, digitally-driven financial services across Tanzania, East Africa, and beyond.”
“This strategic move significantly expands our capacity to offer inclusive, digitally-driven financial services across Tanzania, East Africa, and beyond. It allows us to solidify, drive innovation, deepen financial inclusion, and unlock economic potential for the benefit of all Tanzanians,” Access Bank said in the Instagram post.
Standard Chartered, a British banking giant, has been gradually retreating from several sub-Saharan African markets to sharpen its focus on core business lines.
Over the past year, it has exited Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone.
The group has stated that these moves are intended to reallocate resources to its more profitable wealth management business.
“This transition represents a pivotal moment for Standard Chartered as we refocus our efforts on our core strengths.
Our priority throughout this process has been to ensure a seamless transition for our employees and clients, who are at the heart of everything we do,” said Herman Kasekende, Chief Executive of Standard Chartered Tanzania.
He added that he is confident the new ownership will continue to deliver quality service.
The Tanzania deal follows Access Bank’s recent announcement in early June that it had secured regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Kenya to acquire National Bank of Kenya (NBK).
Also read: Access Bank is going where few Nigerian banks have gone before
The Nigerian group plans to merge NBK with its existing Kenyan operations to build a leading player in East Africa’s financial hub.
However, this may prove difficult given that both lenders are in weak financial positions.
Access Bank Kenya reported a 347.5% jump in full-year losses in 2024, widening to $1.9 million from $491,377 the previous year.
Its parent company has injected $116,121 to stabilise the capital base.
The Tanzanian acquisition also comes at a critical juncture for Nigerian lenders, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently issued a directive temporarily barring banks operating under regulatory forbearance from making foreign acquisitions.
Access bank and other affected lenders have also been instructed to halt dividend payouts and defer executive bonuses as part of efforts to strengthen capital buffers.
This has raised questions about the timing of Access Bank’s deal.
However, sources indicate the transaction was concluded prior to the issuance of the CBN circular.
Furthermore, Access Holdings Plc, the banking group’s parent company, has pledged to exit the forbearance regime by June 30 2025.
The bank says it has already surpassed the new minimum capital requirement of about $323 million and is on track to resolve all temporary regulatory leniency before the deadline.
Access Holdings’ proactive stance has helped calm investor concerns, with the group’s shares rising 0.5% in the last 24 hours to ₦22.4.
(The financial figures were originally reported in Kenyan shillings and Nigerian naira and have been converted at an exchange rate of KSh 129.2 to $1/ ₦1,549 to $1 as of June 24, 2025.)
