LONDON, July 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Access Bank Plc, a leading African financial institution, extended its corporate social responsibility campaign to London's oldest polo ground on Sunday 8 July 2012. In conjunction with UNICEF and Fifth Chukker, the event was held to highlight the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children in Nigeria.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120708/543415 )

Ham Polo Club was the setting for this inaugural 'Access Bank Day' which was attended by senior members of African and Nigerian governments, UK and African business leaders and customers of Access Bank Nigeria and UK, as well as members of the British royal family. In addition to raising awareness of those children suffering in Nigeria, the event also demonstrated the range of UNICEF's charitable projects that address the needs of these children.

Commenting on the initiative, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, group managing director for Access Bank said: "We are pleased to have this opportunity to work with UNICEF and Fifth Chukker to make a difference to the lives of those children suffering in Nigeria. Socio-economic development through responsible business practices and environmental considerations is extremely important. We are committed to supporting this programme and assisting UNICEF with the good work they are doing in Nigeria."

Access Bank's partnership with the Fifth Chukker Polo Club and UNICEF has already successfully raised more than N100m (£380,000) for UNICEF projects to help underprivileged children in Northern Nigeria. The Ham Polo Club has helped raise almost £2million for charity over the last few years through several charitable events that run each year.

Access Bank has continuously displayed a strong commitment to global health issues by investing in successful health programmes in Nigeria and other African countries. It has recently donated $1million to the Global Fund "Gift from Africa Project" to support the fight against the triple pandemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. This gesture makes Access Bank the single largest African private sector donor to the Global Fund.

Notes to Editors

About Access Bank

Access Bank Plc is a full service commercial bank operating through a network of 348 branches and service outlets located in major centres across Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom. Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998, the bank serves its various markets through five business segments: Institutional, Commercial, Retail Banking, Transaction Services and Financial Markets.

The bank has over 800,000 shareholders including several Nigerian and international institutional investors and has enjoyed what is arguably Africa's most successful banking growth trajectory in the last ten years ranking amongst Africa's top 15 banks by total assets and capital in 2012.

SOURCE Access Bank