Banking
GCR Affirms Ratings on Union Bank of Nigeria
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria-based rating agency, Global Credit Ratings, has affirmed the national scale issuer ratings assigned to Union Bank of Nigeria Plc of BBB+(NG) and A2(NG) in the long term and short term respectively, with the outlook accorded as stable.
In a statement issued by the firm, the ratings affirmed on Union Bank reflect the bank’s improved capitalisation, strong shareholders’ support, sustained profitability, and mid-sized status (by total assets) within the Nigerian banking landscape.
Its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio escalated to 19.8 percent at FY17 from less than 7 percent range in the last four years.
This was driven largely by a marked growth in delinquent assets, particularly within the real estate sector, oil and gas and power sector.
Union Bank is intensifying focus on loan recovery, collections, and portfolio realignment towards perceived lower risk non-oil sectors.
While management is targeting a significant reduction in the NPL ratio by FY18, GCR said it expects the position to remain above 10 percent, given the current risk level. As at March 31, 2018 (1Q FY18), the bank’s NPL ratio stood at 14.9 percent.
Following a successful Rights Issue during FY17, with over 120 percent subscription, Union Bank’s capital adequacy ratio rose to 17.8 percent at FY17 (FY16: 13.3 percent), standing above the regulatory minimum of 15 percent for international commercial banks.
The position is not expected to change imminently given management’s focus on building internal capital generative capacity, GCR noted in the statement.
It said although the lender displayed a largely short-dated funding structure (a common industry feature), liquidity risk is considered to be moderate.
Union Bank’s regulatory liquidity ratio stood at 37 percent at FY17 (1Q FY18: 39.4 percent), against a regulatory threshold of 30 percent.
The financial institution covers liquidity shortfalls via its short term marketable securities and available credit lines from other financial institutions.
The bank also continued to explore potential financing opportunities, including the issuance of debt instruments based on prevailing market conditions.
GCR said in the statement that profitability growth was constrained by higher funding cost and credit losses in FY17, with the bank ending the year with a relatively flat pre-tax profit of N15.5 billion. The high funding cost reflects the high inflationary environment. As of 1Q FY18, the bank reported a pre-tax profit of N5.4 billion, relative to N4.7 billion reported in 1Q FY17.
Although management expects a pre-tax profit of N20 billion-N24 billion by FY18, GCR said it envisages full year performance could be impacted by additional impairments.
While asset quality challenges remain a key issue for Union Bank, the accorded ratings are supported by the bank’s strong capitalisation and continuous shareholders’ support.
The uncertainties within the Nigerian operating environment limit the likelihood of ratings rising in the medium term.
However, markedly improved competitive positioning, a rebound to strong asset quality and profitability may trigger a positive rating action.
Conversely, additional asset quality pressure, resulting in NPL ratio rising above anticipated level; further weakening in profitability, particularly arising from credit losses; and further deterioration in operating conditions would result in a rating downgrade.
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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