Banking
Fitch Expects Access Bank to Repay Diamond Bank’s $200m Eurobond Next Month
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In May 2019, Eurobond worth N200 million issued by Diamond Bank Plc is expected to be due for repayment and with Access Bank merging with Diamond Bank, the tier-1 lender would be expected to repay the bond holders at maturity.
Renowned rating agency, Fitch Ratings, says it expect Access Bank to be able to settle the debt and not default.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Fitch, which maintained the Rating Watch Negative (RWN) on Access Bank ratings following the completion of the merger with Diamond Bank Plc, said it “expects Access Bank to repay the $200 million Eurobond on the due date.”
Fitch said it will resolve the RWN on Access Bank’s ratings when it has sufficient information to fully assess the combined entity’s standalone creditworthiness.
In the meantime, Fitch has upgraded Diamond Bank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘B’ from ‘CC’, aligning it with Access Bank’s Long-Term IDR to reflect the merger with a higher-rated entity, and simultaneously withdrawn Diamond Bank’s Long-Term IDR.
The merger of the two banks has resulted in Diamond Bank’s assets, liabilities (including Diamond Bank’s $200 million Eurobond due May 21, 2019) and other undertakings being assumed by Access Bank.
Fitch noted in the statement obtained by Business Post that the RWN on Access Bank Long-Term IDR and Viability Rating (VR) primarily reflects the potentially negative impact on its financial profile from the absorption of a bank with very weak asset quality, capitalisation and foreign currency liquidity.
Accordingly, Fitch expects Access Bank’s asset quality, capitalisation and, potentially, funding and liquidity to be weaker post-merger.
“At the same time, we recognize that Access’s will be acquiring substantial low-cost deposits from Diamond Bank, which could improve its overall cost of funding. The RWN on Access Bank’s ratings also reflects greater strategy and execution risks post-merger,” the rating firm said.
Furthermore, Fitch said it expects to resolve the RWN when there is further clarity on these elements of Access Bank’s standalone credit profile, which we anticipate will be following the release of its results for the first quarter of 2019.
Fitch hinted that a potential downgrade of the bank’s rating is likely to be limited to one notch given Access Bank’s reasonable asset quality and capitalisation pre-merger, and its potentially now stronger company profile and franchise as Nigeria’s largest bank by total assets.
It stressed that Access Bank’s ratings could be affirmed with a Stable Outlook if we view the impact from the merger as moderate, based on the combined bank’s financial metrics, and limited additional unforeseen risks emerging from Diamond Bank.
It further said Access Bank’s National Ratings reflect the bank’s creditworthiness relative to other issuers in Nigeria. The RWN on Access Bank’s National Ratings reflects potential downside risks of the merger.
It disclosed that Access Bank’s ratings could be downgraded if the bank’s financial profile, particularly its capitalisation, asset quality or foreign currency liquidity, deteriorates significantly with the merger or, in the medium term, if the bank’s risk appetite, strategy and/or business model weaken notably.
“The ratings could be affirmed if the impact from the merger is moderate. The ratings could be upgraded in the medium term if Access Bank’s financial profile becomes sustainably comparable with higher rated peers, such as Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank or United Bank for Africa.
“Access Bank’s National Ratings remain sensitive to a change in the bank’s creditworthiness relative to other Nigerian issuers.
“A change in Access Bank’s IDRs would lead to a change in the ratings of its senior debt. A change in Access Bank’s VR would lead to a change in the rating of its subordinated debt,” it said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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