Banking
Diamond Bank Shareholder Loses N21b
By Dipo Olowookere
There are strong indications that one of the major shareholders in Diamond Bank Plc, a financial institution on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), may eventually lose up to N20.6 billion or $67.2 million of its investment in the local lender.
Diamond Bank has been struggling lately and there are fears that it could go the way of defunct Skye Bank Plc, which had its operating licence revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in September 2018 for low capital base.
Four years ago, an American firm believed to be the world’s largest private equity group, Carlyle Group, invested heavily in Diamond Bank.
At the time, Diamond Bank organized an operation to raise N50 billion (about $303 million at the exchange rate of N165 for $1 at that time), with Carlyle then acquiring about 4.16 billion shares at N5.80k each (at about N24.1 billion or $146.2 million), becoming the leading individual shareholder in the bank with 17.7 percent of the shares.
But today, with exchange rate at about N306 at the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market, Diamond Bank is only worth 86 kobo per share.
Business Post reports that Carlyle Group has already lost N4.94k per share of its investment in Diamond Bank, resulting in a total of N20.6 billion or $67.2 million.
At the present market value, Carlyle’s participation in Diamond Bank is worth about $11.7 million because the share’s prices never exceeded purchase price and yield per share has been negative.
Instead of the awaited expansion, Diamond Bank sold some of its operations in the West African region, Nigeria excluded, and, its profit kept falling. From N1.43 net profit per share in 2014, it fell to N0.36 due notably to a significant drop in trading revenues and there are fears already that the 2018 financial year could follow the same trend.
Indeed, even though trading revenues are important once again, they are negatively affected by a fall in the net interest margin at the end of the first nine months of 2018.
“Carlyle is very pleased to join the Diamond Bank Group as an investor. Diamond Bank is one of the most recognised retail banks in Nigeria, with a strong corporate culture, best-in-class management team, advanced technology, large retail franchise, and innovative product and service offerings,” Managing Director and Head of West Africa for the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund which was the investment vehicle at the time, Geneviève Sangudi, had said four years ago when the firm keyed into the Diamond Bank dream.
But according to Ecofin Agency, things never went as planned for Carlyle Group because of the fall in oil prices and Diamond Bank was already suffering from an important volume of bad debts, which continued to lose value.
A solution: quickly find foreign investors to support the group
In such conditions, Diamond Bank cannot rely on its shareholders and is thus obliged to quickly find a solution to settle an important part of its international bonds that will mature in May 2019 and this is a great challenge since its liquid assets in foreign currency represents 25 percent of the $200 million Eurobond to be settled.
Recently, Moody’s downgraded Diamond Bank’s issuer rating from caa1 to caa3 due to two main reasons; first, there is a great volume of bad debts that the bank is not really able to solve yet; from 42 percent in December 2017, it lost two percent points at the end of the third quarter of 2018 to reach 40 percent.
Secondly, important members of its board resigned, signalling internal management problems. Moody’s thinks that this could impact the effort required to solve the bank’s bad debt problems (of which only 20 percent are sufficiently covered).
On November 23, 2018, Diamond Bank’s share gained 7.6 percent points after a week of value loss. It started the week of November 26, 2018, with a loss of 1.26 percent in value.
At the moment, Diamond Bank has a total of 23.1 million shares outstanding and an EPS of -70 kobo.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A collaboration to enable fast money transfers into Nigeria has been entered into between Flutterwave and Xoom, PayPal’s international digital money transfer service.
The partnership allows Xoom transfers to be converted by Flutterwave and settled locally in Naira, enabling quick transfers directly into recipients’ bank accounts at Access Bank, UBA, Zenith Bank, First Bank, GTBank, and additional participating banks across Nigeria.
The deal also enables Xoom’s global network with Flutterwave’s local payout infrastructure, allowing users globally to send funds directly into Nigerian bank accounts with improved speed and efficiency.
Nigeria is the leading remittance recipient in Sub-Saharan Africa, receiving over $20 billion in personal remittances in 2024. Despite this volume, receiving international payments has historically remained complex due to FX constraints and settlement delays. This collaboration helps address those challenges in a market of more than 232 million people, where the ICT sector is projected to contribute 21 per cent of GDP by 2027.
By combining Xoom’s expansive reach with Flutterwave’s local compliance and banking partnerships, the two companies are providing a more accessible financial corridor for the continent.
Xoom, a PayPal service, is a fast and secure international digital money transfer service that enables consumers to send money, pay bills, and reload phones for friends and family in approximately 160 markets globally.
As part of PayPal’s global payments ecosystem, Xoom leverages advanced fraud protection, compliance capabilities, and a trusted global network to help millions of customers move money quickly and securely across borders.
“We’re excited to have been chosen by Xoom for their Nigeria expansion. Millions of Nigerians rely on money from abroad to support everyday needs, whether it’s families receiving help from loved ones, freelancers getting paid for their work, or individuals earning income from the global economy. This helps make it easy and more reliable for people in Nigeria to receive funds and stay connected to opportunities beyond borders,” the chief executive of Flutterwave, Mr Olugbenga GB Agboola, stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An initiative known as Nigeria Lightning Rounds, designed to expand funding opportunities for Nigerian startups and small businesses by connecting founders with local and international investors, has been launched by ProvidusUnity Bank, in partnership with US-based global venture firm and accelerator, gener8tor.
Scheduled to be held on July 15, 2026, Nigeria Lightning Rounds will feature carefully selected startups engaging with targeted investors who have expressed interest in supporting Nigerian innovation.
Participating founders will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses through focused 15-minute virtual sessions facilitated by gener8tor and ProvidusUnity Bank’s networks.
The program will focus on high-growth sectors including fintech, healthtech, manufacturing, sustainability, and AI, but welcomes SMEs from all industries, with intending participants urged to apply via https://www.gener8tor.com/lightning-rounds/nigeria.
“We recognise that access to capital remains one of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Through our partnership with gener8tor, we are creating a platform that connects promising Nigerian founders with investors who can provide the support required to scale their businesses,” the Head of Business Development at ProvidusUnity Bank, Mr Ernest Elue, stated.
“The partnership reinforces ProvidusUnity Bank’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by supporting innovation, enabling access to opportunities, and creating pathways for businesses with high-growth potential,” he added.
Also commenting, the Director of Lightning Rounds at gener8tor, Ms Elizabeth Larios, said, “gener8tor is thrilled to partner with ProvidusUnity Bank to extend the Lightning Rounds model into Nigeria.
“This collaboration reflects our commitment to building equitable ecosystems and driving capital to the most promising and underrepresented entrepreneurs.”
Lightning Rounds are a signature initiative of gener8tor’s investment platform, which has facilitated thousands of investor-startup meetings globally. The format is optimised to eliminate friction, reduce bias in early-stage fundraising, and help founders secure capital from investors aligned with their mission and stage. gener8tor’s previous Lightning Rounds for Nigerian Founders in 2025 featured 18 participating Investors and led to 50 investment meetings facilitated.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The verification of the depositors of the 46 microfinance banks, whose operating licenses were revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over a week ago, has commenced.
The exercise, aimed at refunding those whose funds were trapped in the small lenders, is being conducted by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
In a statement on Thursday, the agency said its staff members have been positioned at the offices of the affected banks across the country to attend to depositors.
It was disclosed that depositors of the defunct banks, who had their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) linked to their accounts in the failed banks, will be paid through their alternative accounts in existing banks.
However, depositors whose BVNs were not linked to their accounts in the failed banks have been encouraged to visit the affected banks’ offices with proof of account ownership, a passport photograph, verifiable means of identification (Driver’s Licence, Permanent Voter’s Card, International Passport or National ID Card) and BVN.
NDIC also stated that depositors can alternatively file their claims online through its website: www.ndic.gov.ng, to complete the Pre-Verification Claims Form by clicking on the Search Bar, and typing Pre-Verification Claims Form; opening the Form and filling in their details. They can also do so by clicking the link: https://ndic.gov.ng/ndic-pre-verification-claims-form/ or by visiting any of the NDIC offices closest to them to file their claims.
For further enquiries, the corporation can be reached on any of the following lines: 09037273810, 09038197064, 08104220807, 09064657140.
