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Africa’s so-called banking powerhouse, Nigeria’s Access Bank, is once again under the spotlight after another high-profile merger deal spectacularly collapsed—this time in South Africa.
Barely months after Uganda’s Finance Trust Bank (FTB) was left gasping for air following a failed takeover promise, Access Bank has now walked away from a Sh625.4 billion agreement to acquire 100% of Bidvest Bank Holdings in South Africa.
And the question echoing across boardrooms from Kampala to Johannesburg is simple: Is Access Bank overpromising and under-delivering?
THE SOUTH AFRICA DEAL
In December 2024, Access Bank announced with fanfare that it would acquire Bidvest Bank for R2.8 billion (Sh625.4bn) The deal was meant to strengthen Access Bank’s Southern African footprint and allow Bidvest to focus on its core operations while settling debt.
But in a cold update to shareholders, Bidvest confirmed the transaction had been terminated after Access Bank failed to fulfil certain conditions by the agreed long-stop date.
Translation? The deal collapsed.
Bidvest, now forced to relaunch the disposal process, insisted the bank remains financially sound and well capitalised. However, industry insiders say failed transactions of this magnitude leave reputational bruises.
FROM K’LA TO JOBURG – A PATTERN?
Ugandans have seen this movie before.
In 2024, Access Bank signed what Finance Trust Bank described as a “transformative partnership” to acquire 80.89% of the struggling Ugandan lender. Press conferences were held. Smiles were exchanged. Regulators were patient.
FTB executives publicly celebrated the deal as salvation from mounting capital pressure after Bank of Uganda raised minimum capital requirements from UGX 120 billion to UGX 150 billion.
But months passed. No capital injection. No completion. No takeover.
Instead, Access Bank finalised a separate acquisition of National Bank of Kenya in May 2025—while the Ugandan deal quietly faded into silence.
By January 29, 2026, Bank of Uganda announced what many insiders already knew: Finance Trust Bank would downgrade from a Tier I commercial bank to a Tier II credit institution effective April 1, 2026.
The women-focused bank that began as a microfinance dream in 1984 had effectively lost its commercial banking status.
While FTB framed it as a “strategic board decision,” industry analysts say the failed Access Bank rescue attempt bought time—but ultimately deepened the fall.
BIG TALK, BIGGER PROMISES
Access Bank boasts over 60 million customers, 700 branches, and operations in 23 countries. It calls itself Africa’s largest lender.
But critics now whisper that rapid continental expansion may be colliding with regulatory realities.
In both Uganda and South Africa, transactions were announced publicly before final regulatory and transactional hurdles were cleared. In both cases, expectations were raised. In both cases, closure never came.
Access Bank has not publicly indicated wrongdoing in either case, and Bidvest confirmed that customary regulatory conditions were part of the process. However, market observers say repeated high-profile collapses risk damaging investor confidence.
Financial analysts describe Access Bank’s pattern as “deal fatigue with a hint of strategic opportunism.” One industry watcher told RedPepper, “FTB and now Bidvest show a worrying trend: Access Bank agrees to deals in public, then quietly prioritizes bigger, easier wins elsewhere. Their word cannot be taken at face value.”
Defenders argue mergers are complex and subject to regulatory approvals beyond a buyer’s control. Others say announcing aggressive expansion plans before securing airtight conditions exposes counterparties to unnecessary risk.
Another regional banking analyst also told RedPepper: “When deals collapse once, it’s business. When they collapse twice in different jurisdictions within a short span, markets start asking harder questions.”
For customers, staff, and investors, the question is simple: should words from Access Bank ever be trusted again? With two high-profile deal collapses across the continent, the answer is increasingly leaning toward “no.”
WHAT NEXT?
Bidvest has relaunched its disposal process and insists its bank remains stable. Finance Trust Bank continues operations under its new Tier II status with lower capital requirements.
Africa’s banking community now watches nervously. In a world where trust and credibility are currency, Access Bank’s growing trail of unfulfilled promises raises a chilling question: how many more deals will collapse before someone finally says, enough is enough?
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