Access Bank Plc possesses adequate foreign currency liquidity to comfortably service its looming $1bn external debt obligations maturing later this year.

Global credit rating agency Fitch Ratings disclosed this in its latest institutional credit assessment, where it also affirmed the bank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating at ‘B’ with a Stable Outlook.

The financial institution faces two significant hard-currency repayments in the third quarter of 2026, comprising a $500m Additional Tier 1 Eurobond callable in October and an additional $500m senior unsecured Eurobond maturing in September.

According to the rating agency, despite the macroeconomic headwinds and tight domestic liquidity parameters, Access Bank’s liquidity runway remains resilient enough to absorb these maturing obligations without triggering capital flight stresses.

Analysing the bank’s external balance sheet capacity, a senior credit analyst at Fitch pointed out that the bank’s diversified cross-border operations have provided the necessary buffers to absorb sovereign shocks.

“Fitch believes that the bank’s foreign currency liquidity is sufficient to meet the upcoming repayments,” the analyst said.

The analyst further explained that the financial institution’s recent aggressive international expansions have repositioned its operational baseline.

“The acquisition and consolidation of Mauritius-based AfrAsia Bank Limited in 2025 have improved our assessment of Access Bank’s operating environment, adding a large amount of investment-grade assets to its balance sheet,” he added.

However, the global agency noted that while foreign currency liquidity remains intact, Access Bank’s standalone Capital Adequacy Ratio settled at 17.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, leaving a relatively tight buffer over the 15 per cent regulatory minimum requirement.

Reflecting on the bank’s internal capitalisation strategies, an investment banking strategist observed that redeeming the $500m debt instruments could exert temporary pressure on core capital ratios due to historical foreign exchange adjustments.

“A redemption will reduce core capital because these notes are currently accounted for at a pre-devaluation exchange rate,” the strategist stated.

He maintained that the Tier 1 lender is already implementing remedial balance sheet measures to shore up its capital cushion against statutory benchmarks.

“Access Bank has already raised tier-two capital and actively plans to further strengthen its standalone CAR through internal capital generation and the planned sale of minority stakes in some foreign subsidiaries,” he said.

Meanwhile, the agency reported that the bank’s asset quality remained stable, with its impaired loans ratio holding firm at three per cent at the end of 2025, supported by a moderate oil and gas sector credit concentration of nine per cent of gross loans, which remains significantly lower than its domestic peer average.

… South African investors eye investment opportunities

President/Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said the planned listing of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals on the Nigerian Exchange is designed to democratise wealth creation and give Africans direct access to participate in the continent’s industrial transformation.

Dangote spoke during the visit of the leadership of South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), alongside the Public Investment Corporation and Alterra Capital Partners, to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals and Dangote Fertiliser Limited in Lagos. The South African delegation included Chairperson of GEPF, Frans Baleni; Principal Executive Officer of GEPF, Musa Mabesa; Deputy Chairperson of PIC, Mongwena Maluleke; Chief Executive Officer of PIC, Patrick Dlamini; and Managing Partner of Alterra Capital Partners, Genevieve Sangudi.

The visit comes amid rising investor interest in Africa-led industrialisation and long-term infrastructure investments. GEPF is Africa’s largest defined benefit pension fund, managing the retirement and associated benefits of more than 1.8 million public sector workers in South Africa, while PIC is the continent’s largest asset manager.

Speaking on the planned refinery listing, Dangote said Africa’s next phase of economic growth must be anchored on large-scale industrial projects capable of creating jobs, strengthening domestic production capacity and generating broad-based prosperity.

“We are opening the doors for investors to participate directly in Africa’s industrial future and the prosperity it will create,” Dangote said.

According to him, the refinery project reflects the scale of untapped opportunities within Africa’s energy market, particularly as most African countries remain dependent on imported refined petroleum products despite growing industrial demand and rising consumption.

Dangote said the Group’s long-term investment strategy is driven by Africa’s expanding energy needs and the urgent requirement for regional refining capacity capable of serving multiple markets across the continent.

The billionaire industrialist noted that demand for products such as polypropylene, aviation fuel and refined petroleum products has exceeded earlier projections, reinforcing the commercial viability of the refinery and shaping future expansion plans.

“We thought about Nigeria first and then exports, but even with our current production, we are practically living hand to mouth because the market demand is extremely high,” he said.

Speaking after the tour of the Dangote facilities in Ibeju-Lekki, the Chairperson of GEPF, Frans Baleni, said that the refinery stands as evidence that Africa can execute transformational infrastructure projects when backed by visionary leadership, long-term investment and strong technical expertise.

“If it can be done anywhere else in the world, it can be done in Africa,” he said. “This project has shown that the continent is capable of achieving world-class industrialisation at scale.”

Baleni added that the significance of the project extends well beyond Nigeria’s borders. “What has been built here is reshaping how the world should think about African industrial capability — and it should reshape how Africa thinks about itself. For too long, projects of this magnitude have been associated with other parts of the world. The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex is a powerful demonstration that, with visionary leadership and long-term capital, that perception no longer holds. This is the kind of African-led industrial scale that institutional investors on this continent should be backing.”

On his part, Chief Executive Officer of PIC, Patrick Dlamini, described the refinery as one of the most transformative industrial projects undertaken on the continent, saying it is reshaping global perceptions about Africa’s industrial capabilities and economic potential.

Quoting former South African President Nelson Mandela, Dlamini said: “It always looks impossible until it’s done. This project is redefining the story of Africa and the possibilities of Africa.”

He said PIC, which manages about $230 billion in assets largely on behalf of South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund, is actively seeking long-term partnerships aligned with infrastructure development, industrialisation and economic transformation across Africa.

“PIC’s mandate is to deploy long-term, patient capital in service of industrialisation, infrastructure and economic transformation across Africa,” Dlamini said. “What we have seen today reinforces our conviction that the next chapter of African prosperity will be written through partnership between African institutional capital and African industrial champions. There is real strategic alignment between Dangote’s industrial agenda and how we are positioning our portfolio, and we look forward to exploring meaningful avenues for collaboration.”

According to him, poverty, unemployment and economic exclusion remain major drivers of instability across Africa, making industrialisation and large-scale job creation critical to the continent’s long-term development.