Bolaji Agbede Appointed Acting Group CEO of Access Holdings

Bolaji Agbede has been appointed as the acting Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, the parent company of Access Bank.

In a statement confirming her appointment, the chairman of the company, Abubakar Jimoh said, “The appointment of Agbede is in alignment with our robust succession planning practices. We are strongly convinced that Agbede, being the company’s most senior executive, with exceptionally rich, professional and leadership experience and understanding of the Access culture would provide the much-needed leadership to steer the company towards the attainment of its strategic vision of building a globally connected community and ecosystem, inspired by Africa to the world.”

Her appointment follows the unfortunate demise of the former Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Herbert Wigwe, who died in a helicopter crash alongside his wife, son, and a former chairman of the Nigeria Exchange Group, Abimbola Ogunbanjo on Friday.

Bolaji Agbede began her career at Guaranty Trust Bank, earning rapid promotions from executive trainee in 1992 to manager in 2001. In 2003, she assumed the CEO role at JKG Limited, a business consulting firm. Joining Access Bank in 2003 as an assistant general manager, she managed the bank’s chemical trading portfolio and has been the Head of HR for the Access Bank Group, focusing on human capital development since 2010.

With a 27-year background in HR management, customer relations, and banking operations, Agbede boasts a successful record in people integration during mergers, culture transformation, and corporate strategy execution.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics from the University of Lagos (1990) and an MBA from Cranfield University (2002). She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management UK and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.