Banking

Two Major Battles Ahead of Tier-2 Nigerian Banks

Published

6 years ago

16/07/2019

Dipo Olowookere

Last month, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced at a media briefing that he would likely force deposit money banks in the country to increase their minimum capital base from its present level within the next five years.

The last recapitalisation of the banking sector was in 2004 under the leadership of Mr Charles Soludo as CBN Governor.

During the exercise, the central bank raised the capital base from N2 billion to N25 billion and for those who could not meet this requirement on their own, they had to merge with others or were acquired by bigger financial institutions.

Since the announcement by Mr Emefiele on June 24, 2019, shareholders of some banks, especially the tier-two and three, have been wondering what could happen next to their companies.

In fact, there was a recent report that Access Bank, which merged with Diamond Bank in March 2019, was planning to acquire Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. But both banks have denied the rumour, saying there was no iota of truth in it.

Though the CBN is yet to announce what the new minimum capital base would be, there are indications that it could be raise by over 100 percent and for some struggling banks, this might be the end of the road for them.

For shareholders of the banks in this category, this is one of the major challenges that might prove too difficult to surmount.

At the last recapitalisation, some financial institutions had to approach the stock market to raise funds to meet the new CBN requirement.

It is not certain if some banks having their share value badly damaged would attract sympathy of their shareholders in raising fresh capital via rights issue or any other means available this time around.

Another critical issue identified by Business Post facing some mid-level banks at the moment is the recent pronouncement by the CBN that deposit money banks in the country should give out 60 percent of their deposits to customers as loan.

Since the apex bank said financial institutions must have a loan-to-deposit ratio of 60 percent by September 30, 2019, many lenders have been devising ways to meet the requirements.

It is however, important to note that four of the five tier-one banks have LDR less than 60 percent.

But these big players in the sector have the capacity to pay for the sanctions stipulated by the central bank for failing to meet up by September 2019.

This may not be the same with these struggling tier-two banks, who are still finding it hard to remain in business because of their Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR).

Apart from Access Bank Plc, which has an LDR of 69.9 percent, every other banks in its peer are below the 60 percent requirement of the CBN.

GTBank has an LDR of 53.1 percent, First Bank has an LDR of 47.4 percent, UBA has an LDR of 47.9 percent, while Zenith Bank has an LDR of 50.1 percent.

How some tier-two banks will solve the two aforementioned challenges is what some observers would be waiting to see with keen interest. Will their shareholders come to the rescue? Only time will definitely tell.

Banking

Secure IT, StockMed, 18 Others Make Wema Bank Hackaholics 6.0 Top 20 List

Published

2 days ago

18/12/2025

Modupe Gbadeyanka

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.

Banking

Customs to Penalise Banks for Delayed Revenue Remittance

Published

2 days ago

18/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

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.

Banking

First Bank Deputy MD Sells Off 11.8m First Holdco Shares Worth N366.9m

Published

2 days ago

18/12/2025

Aduragbemi Omiyale

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.