Banking
Fitch Strengthens Stanbic IBTC’s Strong Fundamentals
By Dipo Olowookere
Llobal leader in credit ratings and research, Fitch Ratings, has re-affirmed the national ratings of Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC (“SIBTC”) and its holding company, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, in spite of the inclement operating environment, market volatility and present recession in Africa’s largest economy.
The two institutions, according to the ratings release, have the ability to meet their financial commitments as they fall due.
The national rating provides a relative measure of credit worthiness for rated institutions in Nigeria and the AAA national rating is assigned to an institution with the lowest relative risk.
In arriving at the rating for Stanbic IBTC, Fitch took account of the strong parental support from Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc belongs, as the group provides support in such areas as staff training, provision of information technology upgrades and best practice processes as well as strong corporate governance practices.
“SIBTC’s and SIBTCH’s National Ratings are based on the probability of support from their parent, Standard Bank Group Limited (SBG). SBG has a majority 53.2% stake in SIBTCH, which owns 100% of SIBTC. Fitch believes SBG’s support would extend equally to both the bank and the holding company,” the report said.
Stanbic IBTC was given a similar rating in 2016 after a thorough examination of its credit process and financial results. The institution’s diversified loan portfolio was reviewed, with its impact on various sectors of the economy taken into account.
Among economic sectors impacted by the bank were agriculture, construction, real estate and infrastructure; electricity and other utilities; consumer credit; manufacturing; oil and gas and general commerce. Others were downstream oil and gas, transportation and communication, among others.
In its report, the rating agency also reviewed the capital adequacy of Stanbic IBTC in compliance with regulations and concluded that it was adequately capitalised with capital adequacy ratio well above the regulatory benchmark.
The liquidity position of Stanbic IBTC was reviewed and its ability to meet foreign currency obligations as they fall due. The Group was certified as having adequate liquidity to meet both its short and long term obligations.
Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Mr Yinka Sanni, said the ratings reflect the financial institution’s strength, strong leadership and unyielding support of its parent company.
He reiterated Stanbic IBTC’s commitment to the Nigerian market and pledged it will continue to provide support to all sectors of the economy in moving individuals and businesses forward.
“We are elated by this validation of our strength. This will help to boost our drive to build a strong end-to-end financial solutions institution that offers bespoke products and services to our clientele. Our commitment to supporting the attainment of Nigeria’s developmental aspirations remains unwavering,” Mr Sanni said.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC is a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars – Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management.
Stanbic IBTC belongs to the Standard Bank Group, the largest African financial institution by assets. It is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in 20 countries on the African continent.
Standard Bank is focused on building first-class, on-the-ground financial services institutions in chosen countries in Africa; and connecting selected emerging markets to Africa by applying sector expertise, particularly in natural resources, power and infrastructure.
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.
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.
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.
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