Diamond Bank gives same reason in shutting W’Africa operations for leaving UK
Nigeria’s retail banking giant, Diamond Bank Plc has given exactly the same reason it presented for closing its West African operations for divesting its 100 per cent holdings in Diamond Bank UK.
According to the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank Plc, Uzoma Dozie, and exactly what he said when West African branches were closed; the decision to shut operations in its international subsidiary is to enable it focus on Nigerian operations.
However, he assured customers that the sale of the international subsidiaries is not expected to cause service disruptions for the bank’s customers across the world.
Diamond Bank, Business Hilights gathered, has signed a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement with a member of GFG Alliance, for the disposal of its entire shareholding in the UK subsidiary.
Details show that the transaction followed the bank’s divestment from its West African business, Diamond Bank S.A., which was completed in November 2017.
A statement issued by the bank noted that the disposal is in line with the its objective of streamlining its operations to focus resources on the significant opportunities in the Nigerian retail banking market.
The said in parts: “The bank and GFG Alliance are committed to, and are pursuing a quick completion of the transaction subject to approval of the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, which regulate banking business in the United Kingdom,” the bank said.
In his remarks, Dozie averred that “Diamond Bank’s strategic objective is to be the fastest growing and most profitable technology-driven retail banking franchise in Nigeria,” stressing that “This strategic intent requires the bank to optimise the use of its resources which means, where necessary, divesting from its non-core assets and focusing on the priority area, namely Nigerian retail banking”.
The banking wizkid recalled that “In recent years, the Bank has laid the foundation for growth in Nigeria with acquisition of over 15 million customers, many of whom are owning bank accounts for the first time.”
