Access Bank underscores communication in business sustainability
As banks operate without understandable obvious differences from one another, perhaps due to poor or misdirected communication, Access Bank, one of the leading financial institutions in Nigeria, which got banking licence in 1988, has continued its differentiation strategy through enhanced communication.
It understands that proper strategic communication is key to the smooth execution of any business strategy. In this regard, the bank has announced its five-year strategy (2013-2018), which incorporates better communication with the media and other stakeholders, a move it considers critical to that strategy.
Towards the achievement of its goals, the bank, according to its group managing director, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede has totally revamped its communications function, investing in local skills and expertise supported by a team of global consultants to ensure that it delivers best in class communications.
The bank’s communication strategy is centred on its standards for sustainable business practices that unleash the talents of employees, deliver superior value to customers and provide innovative solutions for the markets and communities it serves.
It is also communicating its plans to be the change agent that Africa needs and its goal to be the world’s most respected African bank. To achieve the dream, he says the bank which presently has over 6.5 million customers and has sustainable banking philosophy must be the consistent customer choice bank in Nigeria.
“Beyond serving our customers to create that brand loyalty in their mind, it is important for the world to see us as a professional institution, a civic duty inclined institution that conducts itself in such a way that it earns respect from any body who looks at the institution across the world.
“We are not couching our ambition that we want to be the most profitable bank, largest bank or highest capitalised bank on NSE. Our ambition is couched on what our stakeholders want us to be. They say they want Africa that works with the way developed economies work and for this to happen, African institutions must change. As they change things will change. Africa’s financial institutions must change and customers must change and the market will change, and we will be better for it,” Aig-Imoukuede told journalists recently.
The bank will concentrate on the small media medium market as it plans to create about 1 million mobile phone customers in the next 12 months. The bank has identified critical segments of the economy that are already benefiting from its empowerment programme and has created a full division (Business Banking) to support the needs of the SME market in Nigeria.
According to him, the bank will also be playing critical role in sustainability and public advocacy with the adoption of sustainable banking principles in Nigeria.
“What our plan says is that by 2015, we are going to be the world’s most respected African bank, a multi channel bank. We want to move from being Nigeria’s corporate bank leader and by 2015 target being a high performing Nigerian diversified banking leader,” he said.
By: Daniel Obi