Nigeria’s banking giant, Access Bank, has completed the takeover of Standard Chartered Bank in The Gambia.

The takeover on June 13, 2025, will see Standard Chartered Bank cease to operate in The Gambia after 130 years of operations.

Access Bank takes over Standard Chartered Bank

The governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Buah Saidy, disclosed this recently during a press conference at The Gambia’s apex bank’s headquarters in Banjul.

Saidy said that the process was smooth, very prudent and transparent, stating that Access Bank bought the 130-year-old financial institution.

He disclosed that, as of Friday, 13 June 2025, Standard Chartered Bank would cease operations, and that the Central Bank would request the return of the bank’s operating licence.

Access Bank to retain old employees

Regarding the employees, Saidy said the central bank was working with Standard Chartered and Access Bank to ensure the staff can transition smoothly into Access Bank to provide stability in the industry.

According to The Standard, a Gambian tabloid, the apex bank boss said Access Bank would be another big bank with strong financial muscles to help finance the economic activities in The Gambia.

He stated that the transition has been smooth and the regulatory authorities worked with the financial institutions, their senior management, and their board.

Saidy expressed appreciation to the staff, management, shareholders and customers of Standard Chartered Bank, reassuring them that they would be in good hands with Access Bank.

Access Bank, alongside Zenith Bank, are the only two Nigerian banks that have met and exceeded the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N500 billion recapitalisation requirement of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Access Bank meet CBN’s recapitalisation requirements

Legit.ng reported that Access Bank and Zenith Bank exceeded the capital requirement after the N500 billion threshold and share premium ceiling set by the apex bank.

Other tier-1 banks, including Ecobank and Guaantee Trust Bank, are trailing closely behind with N353.51 billion and N345.30 billion, respectively.

Ecobank displaces Zenith in tier-1 ranking

In a related development, Proshare disclosed a shift in dynamics in the banking hierarchy, with Ecobank displacing Zenith Bank from the top tier-1 list, due to its 67.11% asset rally and its francophone West African operations.

The report noted that Fidelity Bank is on track to return to the tier-1 group by the end of 2025.

This is despite Fidelity Bank’s recent N225 billion Supreme Court judgement tied to its legacy acquisition of FSB International Bank.

Access Bank Completes the acquisition of NBK

Legit.ng earlier reported that National Bank of Kenya Limited (NBK) was fully acquired by Access Bank Plc from KCB Group PLC (KCB Group).

The bank said in a statement that the development marked the conclusion of a transaction that began in March 2024 and that all regulatory approvals typically required for such a transaction have been obtained.

As a result, Access Bank Plc now owns all of NBK, which was formerly controlled by the KCB Group. Until all merger procedures are completed, NBK and Access Bank Kenya will continue to operate independently.