The Sun News On-line|Money Market

The aggressive drive by one of Nigeria’s leading banking conglomerates, Intercontinental Bank Plc, to become a strong global player has received a quantum leap with the launch of its London subsidiary, Intercontinental Bank (UK).

Early last year, the bank had set before it a vision of becoming the number one bank in Nigeria, number one in Africa and among the world’s top 100 banks. The new vision according to its pioneer group Chief Executive, Dr Erastus Akingbola, is to enthrone a truly world class and intercontinental bank with presence in all the continents of the world.

Speaking at the formal unveiling of the London office, an elated Akingbola was emphatic that the bank’s presence in the UK will help achieve its target. With the commissioning of the UK office, Akingbola said the bank has not only started living out its dream, but also it’s name-Intercontinental.

“The opening of Intercontinental Bank’s London office, signals our continued commitment to emerging as one of the top 100 banks in the world. We believe that this London subsidiary will not only enable Nigerians, other nationals and organisations within and outside of the United Kingdom to execute seamless financial transactions in the UK, but also provide a veritable platform to galvanize investment funds from the Nigerian Diaspora in the UK and other European countries.” The UK office is strategic to achieving the bank’s vision to be a foremost player in global banking.

“As you are already aware, we kicked off Intercontinental bank’s journey to its impressive present and leaped into global pre-eminence, a development, which is a study in vision and tenacity of purpose.”
When in 1989 Raymond Obieri, Erastus Akingbola, Hyacinth Enuha and Chris Alabi, a quartet of hitherto unsung but distinguished Nigerian professionals came together to float the Nigerian Intercontinental Merchant Bank Limited, they had simply envisaged a refreshingly new kind of merchant bank that will not only make a difference in service delivery in the nation’s financial industry but also help customers build and preserve wealth.

They were a team of highly motivated and focused professionals who dared to break the mould. This was evident in their audacious mission statement and seemingly ambitious vision of being; “number one financial services institution in Nigeria with a strong global presence”.
Many could not fathom how a fledgling banking institution with just N12million (About 50,000 pounds) paid-up capital tucked in a small office in non-descript part of Lagos aspire to be “number one financial services institution in Nigeria with a strong global presence”.
Expectedly, industry analysts were quick to dismiss the bank’s claim as nothing more than a market entry gimmick.

But 19 years on, Intercontinental Bank has not only grown to become one of Africa’s biggest but banks that is making strong inroads in major financial hubs across the globe. The bank’s shareholders’ fund of approximately US$1.52 billion is the largest of such fund in the Nigerian banking system and in the top five in Africa. The pursuit of global franchise is in line with the Intercontinental bank’s strategic intent of becoming a major player in the huge international finance market.