Herbert Wigwe, the chief executive of Access Holdings, parent of Access Bank died in a helicopter crash in California on Friday night, two people close to his team confirmed.
His wife, child, and a former group chairman of the Nigerian Exchange, which operates Nigeria’s stock market, were also killed in the crash alongside two others. There were no survivors.
The helicopter, identified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Eurocopter EC130, crashed near the border between California and Nevada.. The FAA and the U.S. transportation safety agency are investigating the crash, it was gathered.
The crash occurred about 60 miles from Las Vegas.
A source close to the Wigwe team confirmed that he was expected to attend this weekend’s Super Bowl American football event which is taking place in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Access Holdings was yet to make a statement on Wigwe’s death as the report went to press. It will be updated with further information.
Wigwe
Wigwe, who was 57, had led Access Bank as CEO since 2014, having taken co-ownership of the bank with his partner Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede in 2002.
He spearheaded an Africa expansion drive that has involved taking majority stakes in or outright acquisitions of banks in Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Mozambique. Access Bank’s acquisition of a competitor in 2019 has seen it become one of Nigeria’s largest bank by total assets.
Wigwe revealed in November that the bank was close to finalizing a regulatory process to launch its first full banking service in Asia in the first quarter of 2024.
Beyond banking, Wigwe’s other major interest was in higher education. His Wigwe University, located in Rivers State, is set to take off with its inaugural academic session later this year. The project is estimated to cost $500 million and plans to enroll 10,000 students over the next five years.
Notable
Wigwe, last month, explained his view that investing in higher education is critical for broadening Africa’s economic opportunities around the world, and a necessary pillar of stemming the migration trends that feed fears of destabilization in Europe and America.