The Alternative Bank and International Workplace Group (IWG) have signed a strategic agreement to expand access to flexible office spaces and financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Nigeria.
The partnership was announced during the opening of Allen HQ and the signing of agreements for additional workspaces in Kano, Jos, Maiduguri, and FF Tower in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking at the event, IWG Country Manager, Ayo Akinmade, said the collaboration is designed to integrate SMEs in secondary cities into IWG’s global network of workspaces.
“In all those secondary cities, the biggest concentration of businesses is SMEs. If we are not talking about Lagos or Port Harcourt, about 80–90 per cent of businesses there are SMEs. By going to those places, we are automatically targeting them,” Akinmade said.
He explained that the partnership with The Alternative Bank would help deepen the footprint of the company’s HQ brand across Nigeria, with plans to establish between six and eight new centres within the year.
“With Alt Bank, we have a strategic plan where we look at the beginning of the year and target between six and eight locations,” he added.
According to Akinmade, the expansion strategy aims to distribute new centres across different regions of the country.
“We are trying to cover the country. In selecting locations, we are going east, coming to Lagos, moving around the central region near Abuja, and also expanding into the north,” he said.
The IWG executive noted that the company initially focused its operations in major cities such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt during its first decade in Nigeria.
However, the next phase of expansion will focus on secondary cities with strong business potential and growing populations.
“We are clear now that the next phase of our expansion must cover other locations where significant business opportunities are happening,” Akinmade said.
He explained that the IWG model goes beyond providing physical office spaces by linking each workspace into a global network that allows members to operate across cities and even internationally.
“As we bring in a location, we’re not only bringing that location but also connecting it to a wider network,” he said.
Akinmade highlighted that while large multinational corporations often have the financial capacity to build and maintain their own offices, SMEs usually lack such resources.
“If you are Chevron or Shell, you have the money to set up your own office. But if you have only N5m to start a business, using it to build an office will leave little capital to run the business itself,” he explained.
Also speaking at the event, the Director of Digital and Product Innovation at The Alternative Bank, Mohammed Yunusa, said the collaboration reflects global changes in banking and workplace trends.
According to him, traditional bank branches are gradually becoming obsolete as financial services shift toward more flexible and digital platforms.
“We are taking a long-term view because bank branches are disappearing. The way the world is going, you don’t need many brick-and-mortar branches. Instead, you need multi-purpose spaces,” Yunusa said.
He noted that the partnership allows entrepreneurs without dedicated offices to operate in professional environments while simultaneously managing their financial transactions.
Yunusa added that businesses using IWG facilities would also gain access to a global network of workspaces.
“This partnership creates a business ecosystem rather than just a real estate arrangement,” he said.
The collaboration between IWG and The Alternative Bank has already resulted in 16 co-working spaces across Nigeria, while the company currently operates a total of 23 co-working centres nationwide.
The Sales Director for IWG in Nigeria, Joshua Durunguma, said subscribers to the firm’s services can access more than 4,000 office spaces globally through the company’s network.
Industry observers believe the partnership could significantly enhance the operating environment for SMEs by combining workspace solutions with accessible financial services.
