Herbert Wigwe Biography, Education, Career, Philanthropy, Awards, Wife, Children and cause of death.

Herbert Wigwe

Herbert Onyombo Wigwe (August 15, 1966 – February 10, 2024) was a Nigerian banker and businessman. He served as CEO of Access Holdings Plc, trading as Access Corporation, until his death. Herbert served as M

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Managing Director/Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank plc, one of the top five banking institutions in Nigeria, from January 2014 to April 2022, taking over the management of the business from his business partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

Education

Wigwe holds a Diploma in Accounting from the University of Nigeria, a Masters in Banking and Finance from the University College of North Wales (now Bangor), a Masters in Financial Economics from the University of London and an alumnus of Harvard Business School. Executive Management Program.

Career

Wigwe began his career as a management consultant at Coopers and Lybrand in Lagos and later became a chartered accountant. After a stint at Capital Bank, he joined GTBank where he worked for over a decade in corporate and institutional banking, rising to become the Executive Director in charge of Institutional Banking.

In 2002, Wigwe and his business partner, Aigboji Ige Imokwede, bought shares in Access Bank, then a small commercial bank – 65th largest out of 89 banks in the country at the time.

According to a 2015 report by The Banker magazine, Access Bank is now among the five largest banks in Nigeria and one of the top 500 global banks and aims to become the largest bank in Africa. It currently serves 6.5 million account holders through 350 branches and over 1,500 ATMs in major centers in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom.

Wigwe also served as Chairman of Access Bank Ghana Limited, Access Investment & Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) and is the current Chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited. He is a Board Member of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company and an Advisory Board Member of Friends of Africa. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN – FCA), a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Management, and an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

From January 2014 until his death, he served as CEO and Managing Director of Access Bank Group.

He recently spoke to the world including Silicon Valley and the Financial Times Summit in Mozambique.

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In 2016, Wigwe founded the HOW Foundation, a non-profit organization.

Wigwe himself was named Banker of the Year 2016 by two of Nigeria’s biggest newspapers, The Sun and Vanguard.

Nigeria Boys Brigade

In recognition of his “exemplary role in the community and contribution to youth development”, Herbert Wigwe, Boys Band (BB), was inaugurated as the State Patron of Lagos State Council in 2016.

Access the conference

Wigwe co-created a “thought leadership series” known as the Access Conference. This biennial program is the Access Bank’s response to a global call for business engagement to tackle the greatest challenges facing humanity. Since its inauguration in 2013, the Access Conference has continued to engage world leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the world. In a 2013 edition titled “Sustainable Leadership,” Wigwe spoke with George W. Bush, Nicolas Sarkozy and John Kufuor, reaffirming the importance of leadership for national and professional success.

In the 2015 edition, Wijoy hosted global leaders like Steve Wozniak, NR Narayan Murthy, Jose Maria Figueres, Muhammad Yunus and Ted Soder (Industry Head (Retail) at Google) to discuss the topic “Leadership in a Changing World – The Imperative of Innovation”. “. “.

Charity

There is a collaboration between Wigwe, Access Bank and UNICEF to provide support to vulnerable children, orphans and internationally displaced people in northern Nigeria. To raise awareness for this cause, the Bank organizes the Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield Polo Tournament every year.

In February 2017, he was appointed Co-Chairman of the Nigerian Business Alliance Against AIDS (NiBUCCA), a private sector initiative aimed at eradicating HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and supporting people living with the disease.

Private life

In January 2015, Nigerian newspaper The Punch described him as “one of Nigeria’s most stylish CEOs”. He was married to Chijoba Wigwe (née Nwoba) and had four children: Chizi, Tochi, Hana and David. He hails from Ekwere Local Government Area of ​​Rivers State but has lived and worked in Lagos.

Cause of death

Herbert Wigwe and five others were confirmed killed when a helicopter crashed on the California-Nevada border in the United States on February 10.

The other five are his wife, son, Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group PLC – Abimbola Ogunbanjo and pilots.

May the souls of those who lost their lives  Rest In Peace