Intercontinental Bank to open in China, US
CHIDI NDUKA AJA, With Agency report
Intercontinental Bank Plc, Nigeria’s secondlargest lender by deposits, will open branches in China and the U.S. next year to tap into growing trade between Africa’s top oil producer and the two nations. “We’re targeting China and the U.S. in 2009 because of the trade flow,” Chief Executive Officer, Erastus Akingbola said in an interview in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. China “has become a hot project for us.” Intercontinental would become the first Nigerian lender to operate in China, Akingbola said, without disclosing when the unit will open. Trade between the two nations was $4.3 billion last year, according to Nigerian government figures. Increasing competition at home is driving banks, including United Bank for Africa Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender by deposits, Access Bank Plc, and Guaranty Trust Plc to expand overseas. Intercontinental Bank Plc, which already operates in the U.K. and Ghana, will also start operations in Dubai, Ivory Coast and Angola, Akingbola said. While the global credit crisis has largely left Nigerian banks unscathed, Akingbola said some foreign lenders have withdrawn credit lines.

Those banks are likely to return in the coming year because the Nigerian market offers interest rates of as much as 9 per cent, he added. Intercontinental repaid a $160 million one-year credit facility provided by nine foreign banks two days before a Dec. 15 deadline, providing reassurance to international lenders, Akingbola said. Shares of Intercontinental closed at 10.18 ($0.07) naira yesterday in trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, valuing the bank at N183 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The stock has fallen by 75 per cent so far this year. Fitch Ratings has affirmed Intercontinental Bank Plc’s National Longterm ratings at A+. The interpretation, according to analysts, is that the bank is a low risk financial institution. The agency also affirmed the bank’s international rating at B+, which is the highest for any Nigerian bank as at date. Indeed, the bank under Akingbola’s leadership has become one of Nigeria’s strongest brands.

Its robust brand equity, acquired over 19 years resonates with a reputation for excellent customer service, good financial performance and track record of high returns on investments. Intercontinental Bank has also made considerable social investments, particularly in the educational sector to the tune of over N1 billion. Aside from the several scholarships awarded to indigenous students of about 12 states, it also erected a N25 million lecture hall at the University of Calabar; a 62-Room (N80 million) Post-Graduate Hall at the University of Lagos., a 120-Bed space, (N40 million) Post-graduate hostel at the University of Benin among others. Recently in London, the bank was declared ‘‘Bank of The Year’’ by the Banker Magazine, a publication of the Financial Times of London.

The Bank emerged tops after rigorous analysis of its profile along with other banks in Nigeria. At the 2008 edition of African Banker Awards in Washington DC, USA, Intercontinental Bank named ‘‘African Bank of The Year’’. The award which is promoted by African Banker Magazine in partnership with the Corporate Council of Africa and BusinessInAfrica Events was instituted last year to recognize the reforms, rapid modernization, consolidation, integration and expansion of the African banking industry. Also in Washington DC, the Bank was named the “2008 Financial Brand of The Year”, by the World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting Daily.

     <<Back