… Group shifts technology leadership to flagship subsidiary in a bold move from scale to value
By Rashidat O. Okunlade | Lagos
Access Holdings Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Oluseyi Kumapayi as Deputy Managing Director, African Subsidiaries, and Mr. Olanrewaju Bamisebi as Executive Director, Information Technology and Digitalisation, for its flagship banking subsidiary, Access Bank Plc.
The appointments, which follow the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), took effect on October 27 and October 28, 2026, respectively. The announcement was made in a notification to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and the investing public.
Mr. Kumapayi is elevated from his previous position as Executive Director, African Subsidiaries, while Mr. Bamisebi joins the Board of Access Bank from Access Holdings, where he previously served in the same capacity.
Strategic Shift: From Scale to Value
The appointments reflect Access Holdings’ continuing transition from scale to value, with a sharper focus on profitability, capital efficiency, operational excellence, and sustainable shareholder returns.
Having established a significant banking presence across Africa and selected international markets, the Group’s priority is increasingly to maximize the value of its existing franchise through stronger subsidiary performance, disciplined capital allocation, technology-enabled productivity, and improved customer experience.
The elevation of Mr. Kumapayi reinforces the strategic importance of the African subsidiaries and the need to translate their established market positions into stronger earnings, improved returns on capital, and greater operational efficiency.
Equally significant is the Group’s decision to relocate executive leadership responsibility for Information Technology and Digitalisation from the holding company to Access Bank, its flagship operating subsidiary. This decision reflects the recognition that technology transformation must be closely integrated with banking operations, customer service, revenue generation, and cost management.
Profiles of the New Executives
Mr. Oluseyi Kumapayi, FCA — Deputy Managing Director, African Subsidiaries
Kumapayi brings over 25 years of banking experience spanning financial management, strategy, risk, treasury, and business development. He joined Access Bank in 2002 and served as Group Chief Financial Officer from 2007 to 2020, playing an important role in strengthening the Bank’s financial management.
Since November 2020, he has served as Executive Director, African Subsidiaries. In his new role, he will retain responsibility for the African subsidiaries, with an enhanced mandate to improve profitability, capital productivity, operational performance, and cross-border business integration. He will also support the Managing Director/CEO in the broader leadership and strategic management of the Bank.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and holds an Executive MBA from IMD, Lausanne, among other qualifications.
Mr. Olanrewaju Bamisebi — Executive Director, Information Technology and Digitalisation
Bamisebi is an accomplished technology executive with over 20 years of experience in technology transformation, digital banking, and enterprise systems.
He most recently served as Executive Director at Access Holdings, where he was responsible for the Group’s technology strategy and shared technology services. Previously, he held senior leadership positions at Equity Group Holdings Limited and served as Group Chief Information Officer at Diamond Bank.
In his new position, Bamisebi will lead Access Bank’s technology and digitalisation agenda, with a particular focus on improving operating efficiency, modernizing technology platforms, strengthening cybersecurity, and accelerating the deployment of digital solutions.
Leadership Commentary
Commenting on the appointments, the Group Chairman of Access Holdings Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, CFR, said:
“Access Holdings has built a substantial banking franchise across Africa and beyond. Our strategic priority is now to translate that scale into superior performance, greater efficiency, stronger returns on capital and sustainable value for shareholders. These appointments reflect that priority.”
He noted that Kumapayi’s elevation reinforces the determination to improve the performance of African subsidiaries, while Bamisebi’s appointment reflects a deliberate decision to bring executive technology leadership closer to the Bank’s operations.
The Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna, added:
“Our focus is on building a more productive, efficient and profitable banking institution, making better use of our capital, technology and established market presence. By integrating executive technology leadership more directly into the Bank’s management structure, we are strengthening the connection between technology investment and business performance.”
Why It Matters
The appointment of Oluseyi Kumapayi and Olanrewaju Bamisebi is much more than a routine executive reshuffle; it is a strategic blueprint for the next phase of Access Holdings’ evolution.
Over the past decade, Access Bank has aggressively expanded its footprint across Africa, transforming from a Nigerian Tier-1 bank into a continental powerhouse. However, aggressive expansion often comes with a downside: the challenge of integrating disparate operations and ensuring that scale translates into profitability. Kumapayi’s elevation to Deputy Managing Director signals that the Group is now entering a phase of consolidation, where the focus shifts from acquiring market share to optimizing capital productivity and driving cross-border synergies.
Equally transformative is the relocation of the technology leadership from the holding company to the banking subsidiary. In the modern financial services landscape, technology is not a back-office function; it is the product. By embedding Bamisebi directly into Access Bank’s leadership, the Group is acknowledging that digital transformation, cybersecurity, and operational resilience cannot be divorced from the daily realities of customer service and revenue generation.
As Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede noted, the transition from “scale to value” is the ultimate test of a mature financial institution. With these appointments, Access Holdings is clearly positioning itself to ensure that its massive continental footprint does not become a drag on its balance sheet, but rather a powerful engine for sustainable shareholder returns.
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