(Ecofin Agency) – Four years after the start of discussions, AFG Holding, based in Côte d’Ivoire, has acquired AccessHolding’s microfinance activities in Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia. The transaction expands AFG Holding’s activities in East and Southern Africa.
Atlantic Financial Group (AFG Holding), has completed the acquisition of a majority position in the German group Access Microfinance Holding (AccessHolding), specialized in the microfinance and digital services sectors. The announcement was made this Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
The subsidiaries in question are: Access Bank Liberia, AccèsBanque Madagascar, AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria, AB Rwanda and AB Bank Zambia.
Combined assets exceed €150 million ($167.4 million) with a loan portfolio of €135 million as of December 2023. The financial holding company bringing together the banking and insurance activities of the pan-African group Atlantic Group has obtained all regulatory authorizations from the African central banks concerned by the acquisition, as well as approval from the Competition Authority of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).
“This acquisition is a major step in our ambition to build a pan-African banking group offering cutting-edge, fully digital services “, said Léon Konan Koffi (photo), Chairman of the Board of Directors of AFG Holding. He added: “With this acquisition of a key player in African microfinance, AFG Holding is now able to fully contribute to financial inclusion on the continent, by covering all levels of financing needs.”
Through this acquisition, AFG Holding, present in Central, West Africa and the Indian Ocean, is now expanding its activities to East and Southern Africa, with the ambition of developing its digital financial solutions there for the benefit of its customers. This expansion comes one year after the opening in 2023 of its banking and insurance subsidiaries in Côte d’Ivoire and Madagascar.
A transition period has been decided to ensure the handover between the outgoing shareholders of AccessHolding. These are British International Investment (BII), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the German bank KfW, two funds managed by ResponsAbility, and LFS Advisory GmbH. The management teams of the bank and its subsidiaries will remain unchanged during this transition.
Note that discussions between AFG Holding and AccessHolding began in 2020. The German group claims more than 9 million loans granted to date for a total amount of 16 billion euros.
Chamberline Moko
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