Born on August 22, 1966, Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe hailed from Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Herbert had a degree in accountancy from the University of Nigeria, an MA in Banking and Finance from the University College of North Wales (now Bangor), an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London, and was an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Management Programme.
He was married to Chizoba Wigwe (née Nwuba) and had 4 children: Chizi, Tochi, Hannah and David.
He lived and worked in Lagos.
He started his career at Coopers & Lybrand, Lagos as a management consultant, later qualifying as a chartered accountant
As a banker in Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), he worked with Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede to buy Access Bank, which used to hold the 65th position amongst the list of 89 banks in the country.
Working with Aig-Imoukhuede, who became the MD of the bank, they grew the bank to a top tier bank.
He succeeded Aig-Imoukhuede as the MD of Access Bank and worked on a vision of transforming the bank into a global bank, a feat he achieved in his lifetime. He not only took the bank beyond the African continent, he expanded it to become a financial conglomerate.
He served as the Chairman of the Committee of Bank CEOs.
In 2016, Wigwe founded The HOW Foundation, a non-profit organization.
During his last days on earth, he invested massively in Wigwe University project, granting interviews and pushing out adverts.
Described as a $500 million eponymous university in his hometown in Rivers State, he had said the University would offer undergraduate courses in management, science and engineering, information technology, and creative arts.
Wigwe died on Friday, February 9, 2024 following an helicopter crash in the United States of America.
