Babajide Komolafe
22 September 2008
The aggressive drive by one of Nigeria's leading banking conglomerates, Intercontinental Bank Plc to become a strong global player has received a quantum leap with the launch of its London subsidiary, Intercontinental Bank (UK) recently.
In 2006, the bank kicked started a bold global expansion strategy with the opening of its first offshore subsidiary, Intercontinental Bank Ghana Limited with five branches simultaneously in key business districts of Ghana and an imposing head office in the central business district of Accra, capital of Ghana. The Ghana office now has 10 outlets with more branches to come up before the end of this year.
Early last year, the bank had set before it a vision of becoming the number one bank in Nigeria, number one in Africa and among the world's top 100 banks. The new vision according to its indefatigable pioneer group chief executive, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, whose management acumen and uncommon vision has helped build the bank to its octopus status, is to enthrone a truly world class and intercontinental bank with presence in all the continents of the world.
Speaking at the formal unveiling of the London office, an elated Akingbola was emphatic that the bank's presence in the UK will help it in achieving its target. With the commissioning of the UK office Akingbola said the bank has not only started living out its dream but also it's name-Intercontinental.
"The opening of Intercontinental Bank's London office, signals our continued commitment to emerging as one of the top 100 banks in the world.
"We believe that this London subsidiary will not only enable Nigerians, other nationals and organizations within and outside of the United Kingdom to execute seamless financial transactions in the UK, but also provide a veritable platform to galvanize investment funds from the Nigerian Diaspora in the UK and other European countries. The UK office is strategic to achieving the bank's vision to be a foremost player in global banking. As you are already aware, we kicked-off Intercontinental Bank's journey to its impressive present and leaped into global pre-eminence, a development, which is a study in vision and tenacity of purpose."
When in 1989 Raymond Obieri, Erastus Akingbola, Hyacinth Enuha and Chris Alabi, a quartet of hitherto unsung but distinguished Nigerian professionals came together to float the Nigerian Intercontinental Merchant Bank Limited, they had simply envisaged a refreshingly new kind of merchant bank that will not only make a difference in service delivery in the nation's financial industry but also help customers build and preserve wealth.
They were simply a team of highly motivated and focused professionals who dared to break the mould. This was evident in their audacious mission statement and seemingly ambitious vision of being "number one financial services institution in Nigeria with a strong global presence".
Many could not fathom how a fledgling banking institution with just N12 million (about 50,000 pounds) paid-up capital tucked in a small office in non-descript part of Lagos aspire to be "number one financial services institution in Nigeria with a strong global presence". Many industry analysts were quick to dismiss the bank's claim as nothing more than a market entry gimmick.
But 19 years on Intercontinental Bank has not only grown to become one of Africa's biggest but one that is making strong inroads in major financial hubs across the globe. The bank's shareholders' fund of approximately US$1.52 billion is the largest of such fund in the Nigerian banking system and in the top five in Africa.
The pursuit of global franchise is in line with the Intercontinental Bank's strategic intent of becoming a major player in the huge international finance market.
It is a well choreographed move which gathered momentum in 2005 when it merged with three other banks, Equity Bank, Gateway bank and Global Bank.
The merger apart from boosting its capital base and branch network threw up a whole new vista of opportunities including capacity to fund big thicket projects especially in oil and gas in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
In 2006, Intercontinental Bank entered into an alliance with BNP Paribas, one of Europe's biggest banks as part of efforts to build global linkages that will in turn pave way for eventual international acceptance.
The strategic partnership with BNP Paribas, the world leading energy financing bank has not only greatly increased intercontinental bank's business in the revenue spinning oil and gas industry but also positioned it for the management of Nigeria's external reserves
The bank is currently funding big ticket transactions that have not only empowered indigenous entrepreneurs but also added fillip to ongoing drive by the Nigerian Federal Government to enhance local content in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry.
The bank is also partnering with several other renowned international organizations including Afrexim Bank; Export Development Canada (EDC); Finance for Development (FMO); China Exim Bank; Export-Import Bank of the United States; International Finance Corporation among other leading multilateral financial institutions.
Recently, the Export Import Bank of the United States expanded its credit lines to Intercontinental Bank Plc from $27 million to $100 million, a move which analysts said not only signifies implicit confidence of the US government in the Nigerian economy but also an acknowledgment of the bank's active facility utilization and financial performance.
Intercontinental Bank is one of the US Ex-Im Bank's most active Nigerian partners. The bank was one the first among the select member banks to benefit from the $300 million facility approved for Nigerian banks in 2006 by the Ex-Im Bank.
Currently the credit lines extended to Intercontinental Bank from various international financial institutions are in excess of $400 million. This includes $40 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) among others.
Only recently, the bank entered into a joint venture with Blue Financial Services of South Africa, to set up Blue Intercontinental Bank Micro Finance Bank. With the fresh credit lines analyst said the bank would be in a good position to finance the short, medium-term and long-term foreign currency denominated transactions of its increasing clientele.
Intercontinental Bank's giant stride has continued to attract attention from foreign investors. The bank made history in 2006 when a consortium of five leading global investors invested US$161 million in the bank
The foreign investors, among the largest and most highly rated institutions in the world, include Vectis Capital, EMP Africa Fund 11, AIG Emerging Markets Fund 11, L.P., Rand Merchant Bank and RICO.
It was the first time a consortium of top rated foreign financial institutions would invest in a Nigerian bank, indicating tremendous confidence in Intercontinental Bank as a leading African bank and in Nigeria, as the next business hub of Africa.
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