When Access Bank’s South-East Regional Headquarters was built and located in Owerri, Imo State, to facility coordinate and oversee the bank’s operations across Abia, Imo, Anambra, Enugu, and Ebonyi states, many Nigerians did not understand what was brewing.
Since 2025 after its establishment, the regional headquarters of Access Bank named “the Pascal Gabriel Dozie Building,” has been the economic powerhouse of Access Bank in the whole of the Southeast.
Shortly after that, NOVA Bank established its South-East and South-South regional operational hub and headquarters in Owerri, Imo State.
Commissioned in December 2025, the regional flagship office coordinates the bank’s strategic expansion, digital banking services, and corporate credit delivery across both geopolitical zones.
Recall that, NOVA Bank formerly NOVA Merchant Bank, was established in 2017 and began operations in February 2018 as a corporate and investment bank with subsidiaries in Asset Management (NOVA Asset Management) and Securities (NOVAMBL Securities).
As a leading merchant bank in Nigeria, since its inception, NOVA has consistently posted profits, reflecting its sound financial strategies and operational efficiency. It has built a global legacy of delivering exceptional value to corporate businesses and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).
To expand its offerings to retail markets and SMEs, NOVA evolved into a commercial bank as Nigeria’s pioneering Phygital bank, in July 2024.
Barely a year after Access Bank and NOVA Bank built regional headquarters in Owerri, another bank, Premium Trust Bank, on Thursday, 6th August, 2026, commissioned its regional headquarters in Owerri.
Speaking at commissioning yesterday, Governor Hope Uzodimma described the establishment of Premium Trust Bank’s Regional Office in Owerri as further evidence of growing investor confidence in Imo State, attributing the development to his administration’s investments in infrastructure, security and economic reforms.
Uzodimma said the decision to locate the office in the State reinforced Imo’s reputation as a destination where “investment meets opportunities (IMO).”
He noted that the Premium Trust Bank facility was the third regional banking office to be inaugurated in Owerri within seven months, following similar investments by Access Bank and NOVA Bank since December 2025.
“Investment is a coward. It runs from noise, darkness and uncertainty. It settles only where it feels safe,” the governor said, attributing the state’s growing appeal to improved road infrastructure, enhanced security and stable electricity.
Uzodimma said the momentum generated by the 2025 Imo Economic and Investment Summit had continued to attract major investors and assured Premium Trust Bank of the State’s support through business-friendly policies and a skilled workforce produced under the Skill-Up Imo programme.
He urged prospective investors to seize the opportunities in the State, declaring, “Do not come to Imo last. Come first.”
Earlier, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Premium Trust Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Emefienim, described the Owerri office as the bank’s 32nd branch in four years and its first in any South-East State capital.
He said the new office marked “the beginning of a strategic partnership” with the Imo State Government and its people, adding that over 80 per cent of the branch’s workforce was recruited from the State as part of the bank’s commitment to job creation, financial inclusion and economic development.
An observant onlooker will see that there are changes on the horizon, as far as economy issues in the Southeast are concerned. Anyone familiar with No: 1 Chief Atan Ogoh Street
Akanchawa Roundabout, New Owerri, Owerri, Imo State will know what the presence of Seplat Energy office in Owerri also means.
Recall that Seplat’s office in Owerri is not an accident because the Asaa North Ohaji (ANOH) Gas Processing Plant is owned and operated by ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC), which is an equal 50:50 joint venture between Seplat Energy Plc and the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the state-owned NNPC Limited.
The growing influence of Imo State in the oil and gas industry should make anyone with eyes for business look deeper now.
