Access Holdings Plc, a pan-African financial services group led by Nigerian multimillionaire banking mogul Herbert Wigwe, has raised $1.7 million from foreign donors to improve education in Nigeria.
The $1.7-million funding was secured by the leading lender at its Charity Polo Tournament held on Sat., July 1, at The Guards Polo Club in Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom. The funds will be used to build and equip more than 100 classroom blocks in Nigeria’s underdeveloped areas.
The banking group organized the 2022 UK Charity Polo Tournament with the assistance of its partners, including Fifth Chukker and UNICEF, as part of its corporate social responsibility program. It plans to continue efforts to support anti-poverty and anti-HIV/AIDS initiatives in Nigeria.
Wigwe, the group managing director of Access Holdings, thanked the donors and partners who contributed to the fundraiser, and emphasized that the funds will serve as a foundation for attaining a better future for the nation.
“We thank all attendees and donors for buying into our vision and assure that Access Bank will not relent in its efforts to see that every Nigerian child regardless of tribe, gender and religion is given a fair chance for a better tomorrow,” he said.
Roosevelt Ogbonna, managing director of Access Bank, the banking subsidiary of Access Holdings, said the event is a major investment toward ensuring a bright future for vulnerable Nigerian children.
More than a month ago, Access Holding announced that it had purchased Sidian Bank from Centum Investment for Ksh4.3 billion ($36.7 million).
The group disclosed that the transaction is a significant step in its evolution from a narrow Nigerian banking business into a financial service holding that is positioned to gain relevant scale across Africa.
In the first quarter of 2022, Access Holdings reported a 9.2-percent rise in its profit from N52.55 billion ($126.53 million) the previous year to N57.4 billion ($138.2 million), driven by a 27.2-percent increase in interest income from N125.97 billion ($303.31 million) to N160.32 billion ($386 million).
