Banking

Fitch Affirms ‘B’ Rating on Access Bank

Published

7 years ago

28/11/2018

By Dipo Olowookere

The Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) assigned to Access Bank by Fitch Ratings has been affirmed with a Stable Outlook. Also, the Viability Rating (VR) is affirmed at ‘b’.

A statement issued by the rating agency disclosed that the IDRs of Access Bank are driven by its intrinsic creditworthiness as defined by its VR. Like all Nigerian banks, Access Bank’s VR is constrained by the operating environment in Nigeria (B+/Stable).

The fragile economic recovery restrains banks’ growth prospects and asset quality, with the VR reflecting the lender’s position as one of the country’s largest banks with an overall domestic market share of approximately 11 percent, as well as the bank’s sound financial metrics and reasonable capital buffers, which are at the upper end of rated Nigerian banks. Fitch noted that the VR also factors in the bank’s highly concentrated loan book.

Access Bank has subsidiaries in a further six African countries and in the UK and these represent 25 percent of consolidated assets and generated 30% of group pre-tax profit in 1H18.

Operating conditions in Nigeria are recovering given improving oil prices, which support a modest return to economic growth, and US dollar liquidity in the banking system has eased. However, the operating environment for banks is difficult with minimal sector loan growth and pressure on margins and capital.

Access Bank has fairly robust risk controls and systems and its impaired loans/gross loans ratio (5% at end-June 2018) is sound by Nigerian standards and broadly in line with the 5.7% average for its closest Nigerian peers.

Loan loss cover reached slightly above 100% following implementation of IFRS 9 in January 2018. Restructured loans are lower than at other Nigerian banks at approximately 5% of gross loans but Stage 2 loans classified in line with IFRS 9 are, at around 13% of gross loans, broadly in line with peers’.

The top 20 loans at end-June 2018 represented around 40% of total loans, high by international standards but in line with Nigerian peers’. Exposure to the oil sector, 25% of loans at end-June 2018, is lower than the 30% sector average.

According to Fitch, Access Bank’s VR also reflects adequate profitability although this is weaker than at most other immediate peers. Relative earnings weakness reflects a higher cost structure and a modest retail franchise, resulting in higher cost of funding than peers’. Efforts to attract new retail depositors, particularly through digital channels, continue.

It said liquidity ratios are sound, with cash holdings and government securities representing around 40% of total assets. Foreign currency refinancing risks have eased with the bank issuing a five-year $300 million 10.5% Eurobond in October 2016 (issued by Access Finance BV), which partly refinanced a $350 million 7.25% Eurobond bond maturing in July 2017.

Fitch noted that core capital ratios are lower than those reported by immediate peers, although its assessment is that buffers are adequate.

Access Bank absorbed N78.4 billion ($257 million), equivalent to approximately 15% of consolidated end-2017 equity, of additional expected credit loss provisions required in line with IFRS 9. Following this, its Fitch Core Capital (FCC)/risk-weighted assets (RWAs) ratio stood at 18% at end-June 2018 (peers: 22%).

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.