Oakwood Africa Investments Limited (“OAIL”) through its sub-holding company, Oakwood Holdings Liberia Limited (OHLL, “New Investor”) has successfully taken over the management of Global Bank Liberia Limited (“GBLL”, the “Bank”), effective January 16, 2023 from the former shareholder, Keystone Bank Limited, Nigeria under the supervision of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL). With the completion of the divestment, GBLL is now 100% owned by OHLL.
At a brief ceremony to formalize the takeover, Mr. Gabriel Edgal, the Shareholder representative and CEO of Oakwood Green Africa Limited (OGAL), the operating entity for OAIL, thanked the CBL for their support in seeing through the takeover process and the confidence reposed in the new Investors. Commenting on the new vision for GBLL, Mr. Edgal stated: “Today marks the beginning of a new dawn for GBLL and the good people of Liberia. For us at Oakwood Green, our passion is to enable greatness across our beautiful continent Africa, and one of the key ways we intend to do this is to be the conduit for capital and investment flows into and across Africa for development, starting with West Africa, moving resources from areas of surplus to areas of deficit. This acquisition is strategically aligned with our broader objectives, and we are excited to commence this journey with our brothers and sisters in Liberia. We intend to be the largest distributor of finance in Liberia, delivering last-mile financial services to all and sundry, as part of the growth phase of GBLL.”
This acquisition brings the total number of financial institutions invested in by OAIL in West Africa to three. More acquisitions in Ghana and other West African countries are expected to be finalized this year. OAIL’s banking franchise, Bloom Bank Africa, is already established in The Gambia and Sierra Leone.
About OAIL
Oakwood Africa Investments Limited is an investment holding company based out of Mauritius established to set up a banking franchise across sub-Saharan Africa. Its banking franchise, “Bloom Bank Africa” currently has presence in The Gambia, Sierra Leone and now Liberia.