Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender, plans to more than double customer numbers over the next three years by expanding in the rest of Africa.

The Lagos-based lender is creating a holding company structure that will enable it to diversify into other financial services separately from the banking business. Access Bank, which has plans to be present in 22 African countries over the next five years, is seeking new growth avenues as the continent’s largest economy slumped into a recession during the second quarter.

“The objective of the bank is to ensure that by the end of 2023 we have over a 100 million customers,” from about 37 million currently, Deputy Managing Director Roosevelt Ogbonna said by phone.

More highlights from the interview:

• Access Bank targets to list a financial-holding company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the first half of next year and delist Access Bank Plc.
• It’s looking to establish non-banking units in payments and financial technology to operate its retail business and help drive customer acquisition across markets.
• It will deploy shared technology across its banking units as well as manage people and compliance centrally through the holding company, leading to efficiency and resource optimization.
• The lender plans to expand in new African markets including Guinea, Kenya and South Africa and strengthen operations in Mozambique and Zambia, it said in statement last week.