Banking
CBN Denies Rejecting Fairview’s N1.04trn Bid for Polaris Bank
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted a viral report that it rejected the N1.04 trillion offered by a London-based investor, Fairview Acquisition Partners, for the acquisition of a 100 per cent equity stake in Polaris Bank Limited.
On October 20, 2022, the central bank announced that it had sold the financial institution for N50 billion to a new core investor, Strategic Capital Investment Limited (SCIL).
This raised eyebrows as some observers questioned the rationale behind selling a bank the CBN had pumped about N1.3 trillion into for a paltry sum of N50 billion.
A few days ago, an online platform, Peoples Gazette, published a report alleging that the apex bank rejected an offer of N1.04 trillion made by Fairview for the lender. It claimed the company was sold to SCIL, a company only registered six months before the deal, with links with associates of President Muhammadu Buhari.
But on Wednesday, the CBN, through its spokesman, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, said Polaris Bank was sold to the preferred bidder, stating that Fairview offered N1.02 trillion for the purchase of two banks, including Polaris Bank.
Mr Nwanisobi, who described the report as “spurious, malicious, and misleading,” stressed that the sale of Polaris Bank underwent due process and was based on the relevant laws, global best practices for bank resolutions, and requisite regulatory approvals.
According to him, senior representatives of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), CBN, and reputable legal and financial advisers were actively involved in the divestment of the federal government’s interest in Polaris Bank.
He stated that the divestment committee set up for the process received bids from 25 parties, including Fairview, through the execution of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), the first stage of the process.
It was stated that Fairview did not execute or return the NDA despite verbally confirming receipt of the agreement and after follow-up from the financial advisors.
“Therefore, Fairview Acquisition Partners did not take the opportunity to update their offer by participating in the divestment process and thus did not make a binding purchase offer for Polaris Bank,” the CBN emphasised.
“The committee, along with its legal and financial advisers, conducted a rigorous technical and financial evaluation of the purchase proposals, assessing promoters’ fitness and propriety, offer price received versus reserve price, funding structure and financial capacity, strategy and growth plans, amongst others.
“Following evaluation, the promoters of the strategic purpose vehicle, SCIL, emerged as the preferred purchaser, having presented the most comprehensive technical/financial purchase proposal and the highest-rated growth plans for Polaris Bank.
“In addition to passing all fitness and propriety tests, the promoters also made the highest financial offer for the bank, which was significantly above its core valuation and reserve price,” the statement said.
It explained that the binding offer of SCIL comprises “an immediate upfront consideration of N50 billion and full responsibility for the debt of N1.305 trillion owed to AMCON, essentially a total purchase consideration of N1.355 trillion.”
“This offer was the most competitive and provided taxpayers and the federal government with more than full recovery of its intervention cost. By the sale, the CBN and federal government achieved a successful, value-driven resolution of a strategic financial institution,” it stressed.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Sewa Capital Investment, an investment banking and financial advisory firm focused on supporting high-growth businesses across Africa, has made a strategic investment in Mathesis Analytics, a Nigerian financial technology company providing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered credit decisioning infrastructure.
The investment is expected to support Mathesis Analytics’ expansion drive for its AI-powered credit infrastructure in Nigeria.
Currently, Nigerian lenders face a critical structural gap: the fragmentation of verifiable consumer data makes it difficult to accurately price risk at scale. Mathesis directly addresses this bottleneck by aggregating disparate transactional and behavioural data into a real-time measure of creditworthiness.
The investment will support product development, institutional integrations, expansion of Mathesis’ lender network, and the strengthening of its data and technology infrastructure, a statement from the fintech firm stated.
By embedding this infrastructure, financial institutions can expand underwriting capacity, support more accurate risk-based lending decisions, and reach new market segments without compromising established risk thresholds.
For Mathesis Analytics, this investment represents an important milestone in its strategy to build Africa’s next-generation credit infrastructure to drive true financial inclusion.
Mathesis has already supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, providing a substantial operating base from which to deepen institutional adoption and expand into additional markets.
The company will leverage Sewa Capital’s backing to accelerate the expansion of its institutional footprint.
“At Sewa Capital, we are interested in businesses building the infrastructure that enables African economies to allocate capital more efficiently and inclusively.
“Mathesis Analytics is addressing a fundamental constraint in credit markets: the information gap that limits lenders’ ability to assess risk confidently.
“Its technology has the potential to expand responsible access to credit in Nigeria and, over time, across Africa. We are pleased to support the team through its next phase of growth,” the Managing Director of Sewa Capital, Ms Angela Jide-Jones, commented.
The chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Mr Winston Osuchukwu, in his reaction, said, “Credit inclusion begins with information visibility.
“Partnering with Sewa Capital accelerates the rollout of our infrastructure; equipping a wider network of lenders with the capabilities required to accurately evaluate risk and ultimately deliver credit services to previously excluded populations across the continent.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Eligible innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), financial technology (fintech) companies, and technology firms have been invited to apply for the second cohort of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulatory Sandbox Programme.
A statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department of the apex bank, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed that entries opened on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, and will close on Monday, August 31, 2026.
Cohort 2 of the initiative introduces two dedicated testing tracks to support emerging technologies with the potential to strengthen Nigeria’s financial system while upholding high standards of consumer protection, financial stability, and market integrity.
According to the central bank, the two tracks are VASP and Data-Enabled Financial Services (Non-VASP).
VASP track is to support innovative virtual asset, stablecoin, payment, settlement, custody, wallet, and related financial infrastructure solutions that require supervised live testing, while the non-VASP track supports innovations that leverage secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency, and consumer outcomes.
The CBN Regulatory Sandbox provides a controlled environment in which eligible participants may test innovative financial products, services, business models, and enabling technologies under the supervision of the CBN.
The programme enables the CBN and innovators to engage constructively throughout the testing process, supporting regulatory learning while encouraging responsible innovation that benefits consumers and the wider financial system.
Eligible organisations whose proposed innovations fall within the programme’s scope are encouraged to apply.
Applications will be assessed based on the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential consumer or market benefit, governance arrangements, risk management capability, and the suitability of the proposed testing plan.
Successful participants will undertake supervised testing within clearly defined parameters agreed with the CBN, including appropriate safeguards for consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and regulatory reporting.
The central bank emphasised that participation in the scheme does not constitute a licence, authorisation, or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters.
It noted that the Sandbox is intended to facilitate responsible experimentation, strengthen regulatory engagement, and support evidence-based policy development in line with the CBN’s statutory mandate.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The international spending limit on the GTBank Naira card has been increased by the financial institution to $40,000.
This information was revealed by the lender in an email to customers on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
The banking subsidiary of GTCO Plc disclosed that the new offshore spending limit is for a quarter.
This development comes as the Nigerian foreign exchange (FX) market is witnessing stability against the United States Dollar.
The forex volatility experienced a few years ago has eased, allowing companies and others to plan within a reasonable exchange rate band.
“The Dollar limit on your GTBank Naira Card is now $40,000 quarterly,” the tier-1 commercial bank said in the message sighted by Business Post.
Improvement in forex liquidity in the domestic FX ecosystem has allowed Nigerians to use their local cards to complete financial transactions on foreign platforms, which was not possible a few years ago because of Dollar scarcity and arbitrage.
At the official market on Tuesday, the exchange rate closed at N1,364/$1. It was exchanged at N1,367/$1 at the GTBank FX desk and N1,395/$1 at the parallel market.
