Dr Herbert Wigwe is a seasoned Nigerian banker and entrepreneur. He is the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s top five banking institutions in Nigeria, ranked among the top 500 global banks according to a 2015 report by The Banker Magazine, currently serves over 6.5million individual and corporate account holders through 350 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs in major centres across Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK. He is also the Chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited, and a Director of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company Plc (NMRC).
His career in financial services spans more than 25-years, including over a decade as Deputy Managing Director with Access Bank. As a seasoned entrepreneur, Herbert, along with his business partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, saw a unique opportunity in 2002 and grasped it, acquiring what was then a small commercial bank, Access Bank – at the time, the 65th largest of the 89 banks in the country, and has grown it to become one of the 3 largest banks in Nigeria, and aiming to be the world’s most respected African bank. He also appreciates the innovative potential of young people and actively invests in their development through mentoring of aspiring entrepreneurs.
Herbert started his professional career with Coopers and Lybrand Associates, an international firm of Chartered Accountants, and later spent over 10 years at Guaranty Trust Bank where he managed several portfolios including Financial Institutions, Corporates and Multinationals. He left Guaranty Trust Bank as an Executive Director to co-lead the transformation of Access Bank Plc in March 2002 as Deputy Managing Director. He was appointed Group Managing Director/CEO in January 2014.
He has served as the Chairman of Access Bank (Ghana) Limited, Access Investment & Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) and is the current Chairman of Unified Payments Services Limited. He is a member of the advisory Board for Friends Africa, and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN – FCA), The Institute of Credit Administration, and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
Dr Wigwe is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School Executive Management Programme. He holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from the University of Port Harcourt and Gombe State University, a Masters degree in Banking and International Finance from the University College of North Wales, a Masters degree in Financial Economics from the University of London and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.