Access Bank Plc has been named the Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria at the International Banker Awards.

The bank received the prestigious award for its significant strides in becoming Africa’s gateway to the world.

The awards celebrates top-ranking individuals and organisations setting new benchmarks for performance and pushing the boundaries within the financial industry.

The Group Managing Director and CEO, Herbert Wigwe, said: “We are grateful for this recognition of our relentless efforts in becoming a world-class financial institution. The significant position we occupy today in the African financial sector has been achieved through a robust long-term approach to client solutions – providing sustainable and innovative services.”

As part of our growth strategy, we remain focused on mainstreaming sustainable business practices into our operations.

This recognition serves as an encouragement for us to continue to build on our successes and invest even more in sustainable economic growth that is profitable, environmentally responsible, and socially relevant,” he concluded.

Wigwe was also recognised as Africa’s Best Banking CEO of the year. He was awarded for his visionary, innovative and transformational leadership in spearheading the market expansion of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest bank despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under Wigwe’s stewardship, Access Bank also launched the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme. The initiative, organised in partnership with FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa, Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was set up to develop a non-sovereign green bond market that will entrench the principles of sustainability into the Nigerian capital markets.