Barely six months to the March 31, 2026 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the country’s banks to recapitalise, it was learnt that only 14 out of the 24 lenders with commercial banking licences have met the set target.
The CBN had last year given the country’s banks two years to meet new minimum capital requirements based on their authorisation levels, reports Daily Independent. Commercial banks with international authorisation are to up their capital to N500 billion, national banks require N200 billion, and regional banks, N50 billion.
The CBN further defined capital base for the purpose of the recapitalisation exercise to include: paid-up share capital and share premium, excluding other reserves and retained earnings, a move that compelled all banks back to the market, the first after the one undertaken by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the then CBN governor in the aftermath of the global financial crisis that significantly weakened Nigerian banks and caused a liquidity problem, due to a significant growth in non-performing loans or exposure to the oil and gas and capital market sectors.
They were then compelled to sell such toxic loans to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) at a premium, inject fresh capital, and embark on forced mergers/acquisitions to save the industry and the economy.
Industry sources told our correspondent at the weekend that although only 14 of the banks have met their set target to date, most of the systematically important players are on the verge of meeting theirs.
Recall that the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, had in November last year said nine banks that approached the market scooped N1.682 trillion in fresh capital in 12 applications. They are: Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank, First City Monument Group, Access Holdings Company, FBN Holdings and UBA Plc.
Of the country’s big five, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank are believed to have met and even surpassed the target, while UBA and First Bank are expected to breast the tape before March 31, 2026.
Of the lot, Zenith Bank is reportedly ahead with a N614.65 billion war-chest, Access Bank parades N594.9 billion, helped by last year’s N351 billion haul from its successful rights issue. Guaranty Trust Bank now boasts of N504 billion capital base, following the fresh capital injection by its parent company.
On its part, First Bank, it was further learnt, needs to inject about N70 billion, an amount industry watchers say is easily achievable for the country’s oldest surviving bank established in 1894.
On its part, United Bank for Africa is currently in the capital market shopping for a fresh N157.843 billion by way of rights to existing shareholders, its second of such under the current dispensation.
Africa’s global bank is also expected to follow that with an offer for subscription to the general public that would conclude its recapitalisation programme.
Stanbic IBTC Bank is yet another player believed to have met its target of N200 billion, after a successful exercise that fetched N181.4 billion, which lifted it beyond the minimum threshold for its category; while Wema Bank is said to be in need of an additional N100 billion capital injection, having raised an initial N40 billion through a rights issue. The bank plans to source the needed capital through a mix of public offer, and rights issue, among others.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated based in Lome, Togo, is expected to recapitalise its Nigeria arm that will enable it play as a national bank, just as Standard Chattered Bank Nigeria.
Sterling Holding Company, in the first half of 2025 successfully raised about N100 billion through a combination of private placement and rights issue, to be followed by a planned N200 billion fresh capital injection through a mix of rights issues, private placements, and public offerings as approved by shareholders already.
Analysts believe the ongoing regulator induced acquisition of Unity Bank by upwardly mobile Providus Bank is expected to save the former from going under, just like that between Titan Trust and Union Bank of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the CBN is upbeat that Keystone Bank Limited remains stable and will rake in the needed N200 billion and is wooing potential partners with stronger capital base, while reportedly considering a merger and acquisition with another player, a likely outcome for banks struggling to meet the new capital requirements.
Polaris Bank, a financial institution currently owned by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), it is not yet known how the corporation plans to secure an estimated nearly N150 billion to prop it up, hence the popular expectation that an M&A option remains the way to go, especially given the CBN assurance of progress in its recapitalisation journey.
All considered, analysts and industry watchers are upbeat that the recapitalisation exercise will enable the banks play their financial inter-mediation roles, particularly as it relates to big ticket transactions that were once the exclusive preserve of foreign banks in the US$1 trillion economy envisioned by the federal government.
