Awards for Excellence 2018
Access Bank in Nigeria, under managing director Herbert Wigwe, leads the way in social and environmental banking efforts, helping improve the country’s health and education, reducing emissions, spearheading sustainability and supporting financial inclusion. Its vast range of work wins Access Bank the award for Africa’s best bank for corporate responsibility.
Access is the leading bank in Nigeria in the area of sustainability. It has a recycling policy, educates employees about waste management and works in communities donating waste bins. Paper-saving challenges are set, where teams can win prizes, encouraging a reduction in waste. The bank also implemented an early shut-down policy and has introduced LED lights. Some 14% of its ATMs are solar-powered and four new solar-powered branches have been opened.
In healthcare, the bank has embarked on health screening for diabetes – Nigeria has the highest rates of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa. It ran an education campaign in schools on depression that reached 2,000 young people in Lagos. In addition to support for World AIDS Day and World Heart Day, Access Bank runs the Malaria-to-zero initiative, an innovative financing platform designed to galvanize private-sector resources towards avoiding at least one million malaria cases by 2020.