Banking

Ecobank Denies Manipulating Figures to Boost Financial Results

Published

7 years ago

19/12/2018

ecobank Ecobank Transnational Incorporated ETI

By Dipo Olowookere

Togo-based Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has refuted a media report claiming it tampered with its accounts in order to make shareholders feel the company was doing well.

In a report by South Africa-based Sunday Times, it was claimed the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) was already looking into the matter raised by a former CFO of Ecobank’s card division, Altu Sadie, that the financial institution applied incorrect exchange rates, which resulted in it overstating balance sheet items and income statements.

It was reported that the principal manager in the directorate of inspection and monitoring at FRCN, Olumuyiwa Ajibade, confirmed that “The council is working on it (issue). That’s as much as we can divulge at this time.”

Reacting to the issue, Ecobank, in a statement made available to Business Post on Wednesday, December 19, 2018, denied the “unfounded allegations,” urging its “shareholders, creditors, and other stakeholders” to disregard them.

It noted that, “The deterioration of the Naira in 2016 led to the creation of different windows for various segments of the economy leading to foreign currencies being traded in these markets/windows at different rates and thus leading to a multiple exchange rate system in Nigeria.

“The existence of multiple FX markets with different exchange rates as well as the accessibility to such markets necessitates the review of the appropriate exchange rates that entities should use in accounting for and reporting its foreign currency transactions as well as foreign investments into Nigeria under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). IAS 21 ‘The effects of changes in foreign exchange rates’, requires that a foreign currency transaction should be recorded at initial recognition in the functional currency using the spot exchange rate at the date of transaction (IAS 21, paragraph 21). IAS 21 paragraph 8 defines the spot exchange rate as the exchange rate for immediate delivery. Where a country has multiple exchange rates, an official quoted rate should be used as the spot rate.

“Nigeria currently has multiple exchange rates and judgment is required to determine which exchange rate qualifies as a spot rate that can be used for translation under IAS 21. In determining whether a rate is a spot rate, an entity is required to consider whether the currency is available at an official quoted rate and whether the quoted rate is available for immediate delivery.

“The CBN official rate, Nigeria Inter-bank Foreign Exchange Fixing (NIFEX) rates and the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rates are all quoted and can be used to convert or translate foreign currency transactions. Thus, the CBN official, NIFEX or NAFEX rates all technically comply with the requirements of IAS 21.

“As a policy within Ecobank Group, we use the official rate in the respective jurisdictions in which we operate to translate the results and balances of our affiliates into the Group’s reporting currency, the US Dollar. As a result, and in exercising the judgment allowed for within IAS 21, the Group currently uses the CBN official rate which is one of the 3 quoted rates and the official exchange rate according to the CBN.

“The use of this rate complies with IAS 21 and has been publicly disclosed to the market in all our press releases along with the impact of using the other available rates.

“This is done so that users of our financial statements can easily quantify and adjust for the use of the other exchange rates if necessary. Most of our peers in Nigeria used the CBN rate in 2017, before switching to NIFEX towards the end of the year. In 2018, they have gradually settled at a blend of both NIFEX and NAFEX.

“The use of the CBN rate is in accordance with the group’s policy which is to apply the official rates. This policy and its application are compliant with IFRS and specifically IAS 21.

“To enable comparison and to ensure that the user of the group’s financial statements is not prejudiced in any way, we have adequately disclosed in our various press releases and investor presentations the fact that we have used the CBN official rate in addition to disclosing the expected impact on our results of using alternative available rates.

“At its November board meeting, the Board of ETI approved the adoption of the NAFEX rate as the rate to be used for the translation of our operations in Nigeria. The change has been necessitated and approved in response to developments in the industry especially with the ETI’s peers moving away from the use of the CBN official rate.

“Ecobank Group adopted IFRS 9 as issued by the IASB in July 2014 with a date of transition of 1 January 2018, which resulted in changes in accounting policies and adjustments to the amounts previously recognised in the financial statements.

“Similarly to our peers in Nigeria, as well as other African and global banks, and, as permitted by the transitional provisions of IFRS 9, the Group has elected not to restate comparative figures. Adjustments to the carrying amounts of financial assets and liabilities at the date of transition were recognised in the opening retained earnings and other reserves of the current period. Overall, the adoption of the standard resulted in the group recording higher impairment allowance than that recognised under IAS 39. This had a negative impact on the group equity by $299m.

“The main drivers for the significant increase in IFRS 9 impairment figures when compared to IAS 39 impairment figures are:

• Replacement of the emergency period under IAS 39 with 12 months ECL on all exposures under IFRS 9.

• IFRS 9 introduces the stage 2 bucket where higher impairment (Lifetime losses) is recognised for facilities with significant increase in credit risk. Under IAS 39, same assets were classified as performing with minimal impairment recognised.

• Off balance sheet exposure & undrawn balances: Under IAS 39, impairment was not required to be recognised on these items, however, IFRS 9 requires that impairment provision on these items is calculated.

• Other financial instruments: Historically very little or no impairment has been held on non-customer loans/ instruments such as placements with other banks, government treasury bills and bonds, corporate bonds, items in the course of clearing and other debtors. These are now clearly within the scope of IFRS 9 and impairment has been computed on these.

“IFRS 9 2014 does not require restatement of comparativeperiod financial statements except in limited circumstances related to hedgeaccounting (not applicable to Ecobank Group) or when an entity chooses torestate (the Group has not, nor have most of its peers).

“The standard requiresthat where comparative periods are not restated, the difference between theprevious carrying amounts and the new carrying amounts be recorded in openingretained earnings or other components of equity, as appropriate. This is theapproach that has been followed by the Group and as a result the transitionimpact of $299m has been recognised in equity.

“In conclusion, we can confirm to allstakeholders that there were no misstatements in our financial statements asalleged in our financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2017 or inour three quarterly reports released during the 2018 year.

“We also note thatthis unfounded allegation was made by a former employee of the Group who iscurrently in court claiming payment of 13 years’ salary for an alleged unlawfultermination of his employment contract.”

Banking

BVN Enrolments Stood at 67.8 million in 2025—NIBSS

Published

2 days ago

09/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has disclosed that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025 from 63.5 million in the corresponding period of 2024.

In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.

According to the data, more than 4.3 million new BVNs were issued within the one-year period, underscoring the growing adoption of biometric identification as a prerequisite for accessing financial services in Nigeria.

NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.

The growth can largely be attributed to regulatory measures by the CBN, particularly the directive to restrict or freeze bank accounts without both a BVN and National Identification Number (NIN), which took effect from April 2024. The policy compelled many customers to regularise their biometric records to retain access to banking services.

Another major driver was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country. The programme has been widely regarded as a milestone in integrating the diaspora into Nigeria’s formal financial system.

A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.

However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.

It explained that this is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.

Business Post reports that BVN, launched in 2014, was introduced to establish a single, unique identity for every bank customer in Nigeria and to strengthen the overall financial system. By linking each customer’s biometric data to one verified number, it helps to curb financial fraud, identity theft, and impersonation, while improving customer identification and eliminating the practice of operating multiple bank accounts under different identities.

Beyond security, BVN improves oversight, reduces loan defaults, protects customers, and supports financial inclusion.

Banking

Fidelity Bank Raises Fresh N259bn to Overshoot CBN N500bn Capital Base

Published

3 days ago

08/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The N500 billion minimum capital requirement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for financial institutions with international banking licence has been met by Fidelity Bank Plc ahead of the March 2026 deadline.

The local lender met and surpassed the new capital base after raising about N259 billion from private placement, a notice on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited revealed.

Before the latest injection of funds, Fidelity Bank raised N175.85 billion through a public offer and rights issue in 2024, bringing its eligible capital to N305.5 billion and leaving a margin of N194.5 billion to meet the new regulatory capital requirement of N500 billion for commercial banks with international authorisation.

Giving an update on its recapitalisation exercise, Fidelity Bank said it got the fresh N259 billion from the private placement after approvals from the central bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It was disclosed that “it successfully opened and closed a private placement of ordinary shares on December 31, 2025.”

“The private placement was conducted pursuant to the authorisation received from the bank’s shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of February 6, 2025, to issue up to 20 billion ordinary shares by way of private placement,” a part of the disclosure said.

A few days ago, First Bank of Nigeria also met the N500 billion capital base after injections of funds from one of its main shareholders, Mr Femi Otedola, who sold his stake in Geregu Power Plc for the purpose.

Banking

Unity Bank Gives N270m Grants to 608 Corpreneurship Winners

Published

3 days ago

08/01/2026

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

More than N270 million have been won in grants by about 608 young Nigerian entrepreneurs in the Unity Bank Corpreneurship Challenge since its inception in 2019.

The business grants were mainly won by graduates undergoing the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

It is part of the lender’s Youth Entrepreneurship Development Initiative designed to equip fresh graduates with the funding, confidence, and support required to launch and scale viable businesses.

The Corpreneurship Challenge provides a competitive platform where corps members pitch business ideas, assessed on originality, feasibility, market demand, scalability, and job-creation potential. Successful participants receive financial grants to kick-start or expand their ventures, alongside exposure to business guidance and mentorship.

Unity Bank implemented the scheme through the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme of the NYSC.

In the most recent edition of the Corpreneurship Challenge, held between November 18 and December 9, 2025, across 10 NYSC orientation camps nationwide, 30 youth corps members emerged as winners during the Batch C, Stream I, 2025 exercise of the programme.

They were selected from orientation camps in Lagos, Delta, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kwara, Enugu, Abia, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Akwa Ibom, and Plateau (Jos), after pitching innovative business ideas across diverse sectors of the economy.

Unity Bank’s cumulative investment in the Corpreneurship Challenge underscores its long-standing commitment to youth empowerment, MSME development, and job creation in Nigeria.

Speaking on the continued impact of the initiative, Unity Bank’s Divisional Head for Retail and SME, Mrs Adenike Abimbola, reaffirmed the financial institution’s belief in entrepreneurship as a catalyst for economic transformation.

“At Unity Bank, we recognise that entrepreneurship remains one of the most effective tools for tackling youth unemployment and driving inclusive economic growth.

“Through the Corpreneurship Challenge, we are not only providing financial support, but also instilling confidence in young graduates to transform viable ideas into sustainable businesses.

“Reaching over 600 beneficiaries since inception reinforces our belief in the immense potential of Nigeria’s youth,” she said.

Mrs Abimbola further emphasised the programme’s role in strengthening Nigeria’s MSME ecosystem and creating long-term economic value.

“Small and medium-scale enterprises are the backbone of any resilient economy. By supporting corps members at the earliest stage of their entrepreneurial journey, we are helping to build businesses that can create jobs, stimulate local economies, and contribute meaningfully to national development. Our focus is on impact that goes beyond grants, impact that translates into lasting livelihoods,” she added.

Since its launch, the initiative has supported youth-led businesses across value chains, including fashion, agribusiness, food processing, creative services, manufacturing, and retail. Over the years, it has become an integral part of the NYSC experience, attracting thousands of applications annually and earning national recognition for its contribution to youth empowerment.

By sustaining and expanding the Corpreneurship Challenge, Unity Bank continues to reinforce its role as a strategic partner in Nigeria’s entrepreneurial and MSME development landscape.