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Heritage Bank: 9years of driving food sufficiency via bridging Agric value-chain finance gaps
Heritage Bank: 9years of driving food sufficiency via bridging Agric value-chain finance gaps
HERITAGE BANK– Nigeria’s agriculture sector over the years has experienced myriad of challenges ranging from sub-optimal yields, shrinking resources, post-harvest losses, fluctuating commodity prices and poor adaptation to changing climate systems, among others.
There are also problems at different stages of the value chain: scarcities in quality of inputs and varieties, inadequate funding, slow adoption of mechanisation, and a high reliance on subsistence production techniques which have hindered scaling, limited processing opportunities with direct impacts on output and value generation.
As the world population is projected to increase to 9.5billion by the year 2050, there is critical need to rev up food production and enhance value addition across the value chain segment of key agriculture food products, especially as the development of Agriculture continues to remain a critical issue for Nigeria’s economic growth, poverty reduction and in ensuring food security of the country, as over 70 percent of rural households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood.
All of these have contributed to an underdeveloped commodity marketing system. The outbreak of COVID-19 added extra layers of challenges to the above-mentioned issues.
Measures put in place to manage the spread of the virus led to restrictions in the movement of people and goods, which in turn made access to critical inputs unavailable and increased costs in the few places where they were found.
These developments impacted smallholder farmers who make up the bulk of players in the industry across the country.
Given this development, many Nigerian financial institutions started investing in the agricultural sector. Heritage Bank is one of the banks that has taken pride in the past nine (9) years of its operations to bridge the agriculture value chain financing gaps.
Today marks its worthy milestone in the banking landscape, as Heritage Bank celebrates nine years of entrenching seamless service delivery in the business of banking, it has also remained resilient in hastening the transition of agriculture from traditional, low-productivity models toward a modern, high-productivity agricultural sector.
This has been made possible through its strategic collaboration with key stakeholders like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Federal Government to prioritise the agricultural sector to attract sizable investments that has continued to help drive expansion and achieve competitiveness as well as increase financing to key parts of the value chain, particularly small-holder farmers in a bid to modernize their practices and increase outputs. Under the various intervention agricultural schemes: Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL),
Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme amongst others, Heritage Bank has made huge success of the schemes by making funding available to both small holder farmers and SMEs (Prime Anchors) in their efforts to increase agricultural output especially rice and wheat production.
Heritage Bank’s Exemplary Intervention
Heritage Bank Plc, by every instrument of measurement has distinctly and evidently made funds available to both individuals and corporate organisations in their efforts to increase agricultural output in line with governments policy and CBN intervention strategies.
The bank has palpably financed critical agricultural projects in the country and, in the process, supported many farmers.
Since the nine (9) eventful years, the bank has opened its doors to its teeming customers, the showpiece of its operations is a full gamut of completed, on-going and nascent people-oriented programmes designed to create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations in the country.
This line of operation is steadily yielding great results as the nation continues to move its economic base towards the direction of the future, with a robust emphasis on thoughts about diversification of the county’s economic base.
For some period of operation, Heritage Bank is being positioned into a bigger and stronger financial institution that is placed to play a significant role in the much-envisaged transformation of the nation’s financial sector in line with the country’s stature as one of Africa’s largest economies.
With the increasing recognition of agriculture as the ‘beautiful bride’ of Nigeria’s economy, Heritage Bank’s unfaltering energy and commitment in agricultural financing which is fast gaining new interests and more attention within the business circles is helping to rebalance the sector such that Nigeria would soon become the food basket of the African continent.
As agriculture continues to be business, financing provides tremendous opportunities for lenders and borrowers, either at small or large scale.
Heritage Bank has not only encouraged governments, corporate and individual (including young people to embrace optimal productivity and greatness in this sector), it has taken the front seat in the drive to support them in the attainment of noble agricultural virtues by funding various agricultural projects in several states in the country
Promoting Agriculture Value Chain
The Bank is also not relenting in its efforts at boosting the agricultural base of the nation by make farming profitable to stakeholders and attractive to the youth.
It has continued to create market linkages between smallholder farmers and Anchors/Processors, creating an ecosystem that drives value chain financing, improve access to credit by the smallholder farmers by developing credit history through the scheme and much more.
MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo affirmed that the institution is committed to promoting development of agriculture and ensuring that all levels of its value chain can be financed profitably.
According to him, the bank’s involvement in the sector dated back to many years ago and it has always been at the forefront of ensuring overall growth and development of commodities products in Nigeria. For these feats, the CBN’s Governor, recently announced the apex bank’s N41billion intervention in wheat production in Nigeria for commodity associations and anchor companies. Heritage Bank has continued to work with CBN and other stakeholders such as wheat farmers association of Nigeria, wheat farmers, processors and marketers’ association of Nigeria, Lake Chad Research Institute and other development partners, flour mills of Nigeria and several seed companies and others to support over 100,000 farmers in wheat production. Also, Heritage Bank further factored consideration of value addition of financial services and products flowing to and/or through value chain participants to address and alleviate constraints to growth that have distorted product financing, receivables financing, physical-asset collateralization, risk mitigation products and financial enhancements.
According to sekibo, with its assigned position Heritage Bank would play a pivotal role in ensuring that there would be an effective and readily available platform for market linkages among players in the agribusiness value chain, involving FMCGs, warehouse operators, collateral managers, processors, farmers’ cooperatives to transact in a seamless way that guarantees quality, quantity, payment and delivery.
Partnerships As Growth Strategy
The Bank believes in teamwork and that is why partnership with various critical stakeholders and institutions remain a major pillar in its strategy to realise these objectives.
These partnership over the period brought about the support of small holders’ farmers and Anchors in Oyo, Ogun, Niger, kebbi, in various communities in Kaduna and Zamfara State in food crop cultivation, cash crop/horticulture, and food processing (in rice, maize, palm oil, casava etc) under NIRSAL and Prime ABP.
Meanwhile, in line with its collaborative initiative Heritage Bank Plc entered a partnership agreement with the Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending in a bid to improve the agriculture value chain by increasing financing to the sector.
The partnership aims at identifying and securing financing of impactful agribusinesses within all the segments of the agricultural value chain.
The financing was designed to cover segments from primary production of raw materials and sustaining the processing industries to exportation of the produce.
Ifie Sekibo, the Managing Director of Heritage Bank, offered a wonderful explanation as to the reason for the partnership.
To him, the partnership will avail credits at very low interest rates to commercially viable agricultural projects that have been packaged and fully de-risked.
Before then arrangements have been concluded by the bank to revolutionise the agricultural sector by widening and deepening the participation of digital generation in agribusiness.
Sekibo was convinced that support of NIRSAL would help the bank develop a digital agribusiness platform that will strengthen distribution of human capital that meet parameters of agribusiness.
NIRSAL, agreed to serve as a catalyst for national agricultural revolution by boosting commercial agricultural productivity, competitiveness, value addition, market access and enhancing food security and will deploy a mechanism of de-risking the agricultural value chain in order to encourage investment by banks and the entire financial sector.
Divisional Head, Agribusiness, Natural Resources & Project Development, Heritage Bank, Olugbenga Awe said that the bank has strategically put in place measures to ensure fidelity to contract agreements and adherence to fair trade in making sure that farmers earned decent profit for their efforts, which is critical to the sustainability of the programmes.
According to him, “the bank’s participation in the programme has paid off as we currently have a rich pool of farmers’ data to support grains production. “The registered farmers in our database can easily be identified and trained with the support of extension services to plant any grains as the season demands. This flexibility provides continuous cash flows to the famers and ensures that more farmers are enlisted to join the programme,” he said.
The Divisional Head, further disclosed, “In our quest to participate in the rice value-chain through the ABP, we supported hundreds of small holder farmers in various communities in Kaduna and Zamfara State.”
“The sector is driving the next set of entrepreneurs and we are committed to the development of the sector using appropriate technology and modern farm practices. We walk the talk in Heritage Bank as demonstrated in our portfolio allocation to agribusiness,” he said. He noted that the large-scale operators are enabled to expand existing capacities and industrialise for local consumption and export.
This scheme, however, informed Heritage Bank partnership with the Oyo State government in a multi-billion-naira project to give agriculture a boost in the state.
Under the initiative, the bank is supporting the Oyo State Agricultural Initiative, OYSAI, a programme designed to revive agriculture, boost agro-allied businesses and create a massive empowerment programme for both youths and women across the state through the creation of thousands of jobs in the sector.
This huge and laudable project that is spread across 3,000 hectares of land in 28 of the 33 Local Government Areas of Oyo State, is in three stages: food crop cultivation, cash crop/horticulture, and food processing.
Poultry farming in Oyo State – N29million received from NIRSAL and disbursed to farmers Maize cultivation in Ogun State – N157million received from NIRSAL and disbursed to farmers for cassava cultivation in Kebbi State – Transaction size is about N500million approved by CBN.
Heritage Bank Plc signed a N232 million pilot phase of the out-growers agreement with Biase Plantations Limited (BPL), and its joint venture partner, PZ Wilmar Limited to produce best-in-class palm oil, using the ABP model.
Heritage Bank is supporting agro investors involved in this initiative with funds and advisory services and indications are that the programme has already led to more than 50 per cent increase in food production in the state.
Partnering the CBN
Heritage Bank’s partnership with CBN over the years has revolutionised the agricultural value-chain with consideration to value addition, marketing and other backward and forward linkages. Recently, the Bank in partnership with CBN set up plans in disbursing a whopping sum of N41billion to farmers from 14 states for the expansion of the wheat production project.
As part of bridging the Agric Value chain financing gap, the Bank, however, registered the wheat farmers with the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) for successful disbursement, as the farmers are expected to cover about 111, 025 Hectares of land to attain huge milestones in wheat production.
Meanwhile, being the pioneer Bank to finance the first-ever large scale rain-fed wheat production in Nigeria and also a participating financial institution (PFI) under CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme scheme, Heritage Bank has taken adequate steps to create an enabling environment for sustainable growth in wheat production; thereby partnering with LCFE for all value-chain stakeholders to interact and trade ownership titles to specific quantities of wheat by registering members for their clients on the commodity exchange platform. Speaking at the media briefing engagement with the pressmen, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo stated that the partnership is basically to consummate Wheat Seed Multiplication Project under the CBN’s Brown Revolution Initiative, in order to ensure due diligence on loan administration, monitoring and recovery, which would bring about increase in the domestic production of wheat and close the wide supply gap in the Nigerian agricultural space.
Also, Awe explained that via the strategic partnerships Heritage Bank has achieved vast footprints in agribusiness.
“For example, through our partnership with Triton Aqua Africa Limited and on-lending support from CBN, Heritage Bank has provided N2 billion for aquaculture to reduce our heavy reliance on fish import.
“Nigeria’s current annual demand for fish is estimated at 2.7 million metric tonnes and we currently produce about 800,000 metric tonnes.
“With support from CBN through Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme CACS, Triton is now producing about 27,000 metric tonnes and their projection is to reach 100,000 metric tonnes in five years.
“From recent forecast, they will meet that projection easily. The bank is also supporting rice farmers under the ABP in Bakolori, Zamfara, Sanga in Kaduna and Soyabeans farmers in Rijana, Kaduna. Heritage Bank also has ongoing projects across the country,” he said.
On Heritage Bank’s involvement in ABP, the Bank provides on-lending funding to aggregated farmers to grow various products that will serve as raw materials to the processors, thereby ensuring market linkages and access to the market as well as reduce importation and conserve Nigeria’s external reserves.
In 2016, the sums of N54,892,728.00 and N248,413,350.00 were sourced from CBN and disbursed as loans to 185 rice farmers and 414 soya bean farmers respectively in Kaduna State.
In 2016, N37, 995,300.00 was disbursed to 259 rice farmers via 11 cooperatives in Zamfara State.
This line of action has readily compelled young and vibrant minds into getting involved in providing affordable financial solutions that can help agribusiness investors in various aspects of agriculture.
Presently, the bank is practically involved in preparing a good future for the youth, which is imperative, while recognizing the need to expand the horizon of young people, broaden their options and increase their choices.
The institution realized that the youth are needed as solution providers, incubators of ideas, promoters of innovations and implementers of positive change through agriculture and entrepreneurship.
Recognitions
No doubt Heritage Bank’s unswerving lending to the agricultural sector has earned it a deluge of accolades.
To its portfolio Heritage Bank Plc, earned the Nigeria’s Most Innovative Banking Service Provider in 2017 that was bestowed at the inaugural Nigeria Sustainable Banking Award convened by the CBN “For Sustainable Transaction of The Year in Agriculture.”
The Nigeria Agriculture Awards (NAA), at its annual event convened by AgroNigeria (The Voice of Nigeria’s Agriculture), to appreciate immense efforts of those who have contributed to the success of the agriculture sector in the country, announced Heritage Bank as the Agric Bank of the Year.
According to NAA, Heritage Bank was selected in recognition of its footprints in the Agric space, especially the Triton Aquaculture Project. Heritage was adjudged best SME Bank for 2018 by Capital Finance International and Agriculture Bank of the Year 2018 by Nigeria Agriculture Awards, MAA.
The Bank also won “For Sustainable Transaction of The Year in Agriculture,” in the inaugural Nigeria Sustainable Banking Award convened by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The financial institution was adjudged Banker of the Year 2021 under SMEs and Agric category, which was awarded to the MD/CEO of the Bank, Ifie Sekibo during the prestigious award at the New Telegraph 2021 Awards in recognition of its leadership position in delivering sterling development and growth of the agricultural sector and the Small and Medium Enterprises.
Also, Heritage Bank Plc which has been adjudged the lead settlement bank for Gezawa Commodity Market (GCMX), has collaborated with key stakeholders to revolutionise the agricultural value-chain.
The collaboration was aimed at providing a fully integrated ecosystem for commodity Exchange.
Heritage Bank was appointed the Lead Settlement Bank and Transaction Adviser to GCMX and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the two firms, whilst over 10, 000 farmers in 3000 cooperatives in the 44 local governments of Kano States were hosted.
The partnership between Heritage Bank and the Exchange has continued to facilitate the ease of agro commodity trading in a more structured way, especially with the closeness to the Dawanu, the largest grain market in Africa.
Sekibo, who was a panelist at the second GCMX Farmers’ Cooperative Forum in Kano said the partnership was to de-risk the sector and bring about structured and enhanced agro-business and attain food security that leads to economic development.
Sekibo explained that the partnership which would help bridge the huge gap associated with risk, would fast track effective price discovery mechanisms and traceability and enhanced trade settlement services.
Specifically, he stated that under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Heritage Bank would provide on-lending funding to aggregated farmers in the farming season to grow various products that will serve as raw materials to the processors, thereby ensuring market linkages and access to the market as well as reduce importation and conserve Nigeria’s external reserves.
Because the challenges are daunting, Heritage Bank Plc is also calling on governments at all levels and deposit money banks to increase support to agriculture, as it is the most resilient and important sector of the Nigerian economy, despite underwhelming investment in the sector.
The Bank believes that increased focus on the agricultural sector would contribute to the job creation objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), as its labour intensive process across the value chain has the potential of creating multiple jobs, create wealth, and increase the sector’s contribution to GDP and foreign exchange earnings
Heritage Bank observes that the under-performance of the sector is closely tied, amongst other factors, to poor credit access from banks.
The Bank also observes underfunding of Nigeria’s Agricultural research institutes that are established to drive the sector’s business.
It is in the Bank’s opinion that successful implementation of the Government’s Recovery Plan provides significant opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors and financiers particularly in the Agro-allied Sector.
Also, investments in infrastructure (energy and transportation) are supportive of the Agric-led growth and to explore options for de-risking and unlocking bank lending to the Agric sector so as to develop and position the sector for increased contribution to the Nigeria’s GDP and revenues, there is need to continue regulatory driven intervention funds to increase access to credit at single digit rates and long tenors, Improve knowledge of Banks and Bankers on Agric finance and Agricultural Risk Management through focused capacity building and many others, said the Bank in its submission for a better agriculture driven economy.
Recapitalisation Without Transformation is a Risk Nigeria Cannot Afford
BY BLAISE UDUNZE
In barely two weeks, Nigeria’s banking sector will once again be at a historic turning point. As the deadline for the latest recapitalisation exercise approaches on March 31, 2026, with no fewer than 31 banks having met the new capital rule, leaving out two that are reportedly awaiting verification. As exercise progresses and draws to an end, policymakers are optimistic that stronger banks will anchor financial stability and support the country’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
The reform, driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Governor Olayemi Cardoso, requires banks to significantly raise their capital thresholds, which are set at N500 billion for international banks, N200 billion for national banks, and N50 billion for regional lenders. According to the apex bank, 33 banks have already tapped the capital market through rights issues and public offerings; collectively, the total verified and approved capital raised by the banks amounts to N4.05 trillion.
No doubt, at first glance, the strategy definitely appears straightforward with the idea that bigger capital means stronger banks, and stronger banks should finance economic growth. But history offers a cautionary reminder that capital alone does not guarantee resilience, as it would be recalled that Nigeria has travelled this road before.
During the 2004-2005 consolidation led by former CBN Governor Charles Soludo, the number of banks in the country shrank dramatically from 89 to 25. The reform created larger institutions that were celebrated as national champions. The truth is that Nigeria has been here before because, despite all said and done, barely five years later, the banking system plunged into crisis, forcing regulatory intervention, bailouts, and the creation of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to absorb toxic assets.
The lesson from that experience is simple in the sense that recapitalisation without structural reform only postpones deeper problems.
Today, as banks race to meet the new capital thresholds, the real question is not how much capital has been raised but whether the reform will transform the fundamentals of Nigerian banking. The underlying fact is that if the exercise merely inflates balance sheets without addressing deeper vulnerabilities, Nigeria risks repeating a familiar cycle of apparent stability followed by systemic stress, as the resultant effect will be distressed banks less capable of bringing the economy out of the woods.
The real measure of success is far simpler. That is to say, stronger banks must stimulate economic productivity, stabilise the financial system, and expand access to credit for businesses and households. Anything less will amount to a missed opportunity.
One of the most critical issues surrounding the recapitalisation drive is the quality of the capital being raised.
Nigeria’s banking sector has reportedly secured more than N4.5 trillion in new capital commitments across different categories of banks. No doubt, on paper, these numbers may appear impressive. Going by the trends of events in Nigeria’s economy, numbers alone can be deceptive.
Past recapitalisation cycles revealed troubling practices, whereby funds raised through related-party transactions, borrowed money disguised as equity, or complex financial arrangements that recycled risks back into the banking system. If such practices resurface, recapitalisation becomes little more than an accounting exercise.
To avert a repeat of failure, the CBN must therefore ensure that every naira raised represents genuine, loss-absorbing capital. Transparency around capital sources, ownership structures, and funding arrangements must be non-negotiable. Without credible capital, balance sheet strength becomes an illusion that will make every recapitalization exercise futile.
In financial systems, credibility is itself a form of capital. If there is one recurring factor behind banking crises in Nigeria, it is corporate governance failure.
Many past collapses were not triggered by global shocks but by insider lending, weak board oversight, excessive executive power, and poor risk culture. Recapitalisation provides regulators with a rare opportunity to reset governance standards across the industry.
Boards must be independent not only in structure but also in substance. Risk committees must be empowered to challenge executive decisions. Insider lending rules must be enforced without compromise because, over the years, they have proven to be an anathema against the stability of the financial sector. The stakes are high.
When governance fails, fresh capital can quickly become fresh fuel for old excesses. Without governance reform, recapitalisation risks reinforcing the very weaknesses it seeks to eliminate.
Another structural vulnerability lies in Nigeria’s increasing amount of non-performing loans (NPLs), which recently caused the CBN to raise concerns, as Nigeria experiences a rise in bad loans threatening banking stability.
Industry data suggests that the banking sector’s NPL ratio has climbed above the prudential benchmark of 5 percent, reaching roughly 7 percent in recent assessments. Many of these troubled loans are concentrated in sectors such as oil and gas, power, and government-linked infrastructure projects, alongside other factors such as FX instability, high interest rates, and the withdrawal of Covid-era forbearance, which threaten bank stability.
While regulatory forbearance has helped maintain short-term stability, it has also obscured deeper asset-quality concerns. A credible recapitalisation process must confront this reality directly.
Loan classification standards must reflect economic truth rather than regulatory convenience. Banks should not carry impaired assets indefinitely while presenting healthy balance sheets to investors and depositors.
Transparency about asset quality strengthens trust. Concealment destroys it. Few forces have disrupted Nigerian bank balance sheets in recent years as severely as exchange-rate volatility.
Many banks still operate with significant foreign exchange mismatches, borrowing short-term in foreign currencies while lending long-term to clients earning revenues in naira. When the naira depreciates sharply, these mismatches can erode capital faster than any credit loss.
Recapitalisation must therefore be accompanied by stricter supervision of foreign exchange exposure, as this part calls for the regulator to heighten its supervision. Banks should be required to disclose currency risks more transparently and undergo rigorous stress testing at intervals that assume adverse currency scenarios rather than best-case outcomes. In a structurally import-dependent economy, ignoring FX risk is no longer an option.
Nigeria’s banking system has long been characterised by excessive concentration in a few sectors and corporate clients, which calls for adequate monitoring and the need to be addressed quickly for the recapitalization drive to yield maximum results.
Growth in most advanced economies comes from the small and medium-sized enterprises that are well-funded. Anything short of this undermines it, since the concentration of huge loans to large oil and gas companies, government-related entities, and major conglomerates absorbs a disproportionate share of bank lending. This has continued to pose a major threat to the system, as the case is with small and medium-sized enterprises, the backbone of job creation, which remain chronically underfinanced. This imbalance weakens the economy.
Recapitalisation should therefore be tied to policies that encourage credit diversification and risk-sharing mechanisms that allow banks to lend more confidently to productive sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and technology rather than investing their funds into the government’s securities. Bigger banks that remain narrowly exposed do not strengthen the economy. They amplify its fragilities.
Nigeria’s macroeconomic conditions, which are its broad economic settings, are defined by frequent and sometimes sharp changes or instability rather than stability.
Inflation shocks, interest-rate swings, fiscal pressures, and currency adjustments are not rare disruptions; but they have now become a normal part of the economic environment. Despite all these adverse factors, many banks still operate risk models that assume relative stability. Perhaps unbeknownst to the stakeholders, this disconnect is dangerous.
Owing to possible shocks, and when banks increase their capital (recapitalization), it is required that banks adopt more sophisticated risk-management frameworks capable of withstanding severe economic scenarios, with the expectation that stronger banks should also have stronger systems to manage risks and survive economic crises. In Nigeria today, every financial institution’s stress testing must be performed in the face of the economy facing severe shocks like currency depreciation, sovereign debt pressures, and sudden interest-rate spikes.
Risk management should evolve from a compliance obligation into a strategic discipline embedded in every lending decision.
Public confidence in the banking system depends heavily on credible financial reporting.
Investors, analysts, and depositors need to be able to understand banks’ true financial positions without navigating non-transparent disclosures or creative accounting practices, which means the industry must be liberated to an extent that gives room for access to information.
Recapitalisation provides an opportunity to strengthen the enforcement of international financial reporting standards, enhance audit quality, and require clearer disclosure of capital adequacy, asset quality, and related-party transactions. Transparency should not be feared. It is the foundation of trust.
One thing that must be corrected is that while recapitalisation often focuses on financial metrics, the banking sector ultimately runs on human capital.
Another fearful aspect of this exercise for the economy is that consolidation and mergers triggered by the reform could lead to workforce disruptions if not carefully managed. Job losses, casualisation, and declining staff morale can weaken institutional culture and productivity. Strong banks are built by strong people.
If recapitalisation strengthens balance sheets while destabilising the workforce that powers the system, the reform risks undermining its own economic objectives. Human capital stability must therefore form part of the broader reform strategy.
Doubtless, another emerging shift in Nigeria’s financial landscape is the rise of digital financial platforms that are increasingly changing how people access and use money in Nigeria.
Millions of Nigerians are increasingly relying on fintech platforms for payments, microloans, and everyday financial transactions. One of the advantages it offers, is that these services often deliver faster and more user-friendly experiences than traditional banks. While innovation is welcome, it raises important questions about the future structure of financial intermediation.
The point here is that the moment traditional banks retreat from retail banking while fintech platforms dominate customer interactions, systemic liquidity and regulatory oversight could become fragmented.
The CBN must see to it that the recapitalised banks must therefore invest aggressively in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and customer experience, while cutting down costs on all less critical areas in the industry.
Nigerians should feel the benefits of recapitalisation not only in stronger balance sheets but also in faster apps, reliable payment systems, and responsive customer service.
As banks grow larger through recapitalisation and consolidation, a new challenge emerges via systemic concentration.
Nigeria’s largest banks already control a significant share of industry assets. Further consolidation could deepen the divide between dominant institutions and smaller players. This creates the risk of “too-big-to-fail” banks whose collapse could threaten the entire financial system.
To address this risk, regulators must strengthen resolution frameworks that allow distressed banks to fail without triggering systemic panic, their collapse does not damage the whole financial system, and do not require taxpayer-funded bailouts to forestall similar mistakes that occurred with the liquidation of Heritage Bank. Market discipline depends on credible failure mechanisms.
It must be understood that Nigeria’s banking recapitalisation is not merely a financial exercise or, better still, increasing banks’ capital. It is a rare opportunity to rebuild trust, strengthen governance, and reposition the financial system as a true engine of economic development.
One fact is that if the reform focuses only on capital numbers, the country risks repeating a familiar pattern of churning out impressive balance sheets followed by another cycle of crisis.
But the actors in this exercise must ensure that the recapitalisation addresses governance failures, asset quality concerns, risk management weaknesses, and transparency gaps; and the moment this is done, the banking sector could emerge stronger and more resilient.
Nigeria does not simply need bigger banks. It needs better banks, institutions capable of financing innovation, supporting entrepreneurs, and building economic opportunity for millions of citizens.
The true capital of any banking system is not just money. It is trust. And whether this recapitalisation ultimately succeeds will depend on whether Nigerians see that trust reflected not only in financial statements but in the everyday experience of saving, borrowing, and investing in the economy. Only then will bigger banks translate into a stronger nation.
Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: [email protected]
FirstBank Makes Home Ownership Possible for Nigerians with Single-Digit Interest Rate Loan
For millions of Nigerians, homeownership has long felt like an ambition deferred. Squeezed by rising property prices, persistent double-digit inflation and high commercial lending rates, the dream of owning a home has remained just that – a dream.
But that narrative is quietly changing. Thanks to FirstBank.
The N1 Trillion Intervention Reshaping Access
In partnership with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF), FirstBank has unveiled a mortgage opportunity that could redefine access to housing finance in Nigeria.
Backed by the Federal Government’s N1trillion mortgage fund, the initiative is designed to empower Nigerians with affordable, long-term credit to own their homes.
9.75% Interest Rate in a 30% Lending Environment
MREIF is priced at 9.75% per annum, dramatically lower than prevailing commercial loan rates. Eligible Nigerians can access up to N100 million and repay within 20 years. This translates into significantly more manageable monthly repayments and greater long-term financial stability.
Built for Salary Earners, Entrepreneurs and the Diaspora
The MREIF mortgage facility has been structured to be inclusive. It is available to salary account holders, business owners and diaspora customers. Whether you are a young professional aiming to exit the rent cycle, an entrepreneur building generational stability, or you’re a Nigerian abroad looking to secure assets locally, the product opens a pathway that has historically been out of reach for many.
Taking the First Step
For those who have been waiting for the right time, this is definitely it. The question is no longer whether homeownership is possible. The real question is: will you act before the window narrows?
Visit https://www.firstbanknigeria.com/personal/loans/mreif-home-loan/ and in no time you could be the latest homeowner in town.
Alpha Morgan Bank Deepens Presence in Abuja with New Branch in Utako
Marking another milestone in its expansion drive, Alpha Morgan Bank has opened a new branch in Utako, Abuja, reinforcing its strategy of building closer institutional ties within key business communities and bringing its financial expertise closer to individuals, and enterprises driving the city’s growth.
The new branch, located at Plot 1121 Obafemi Awolowo Way, Utako, Abuja is strategically positioned to serve individuals, entrepreneurs, and corporate clients within Utako and surrounding districts.
The expansion follows the Bank’s recently concluded Economic Review Webinar held in February 2026, as the bank continues to position as a thought-leader in the financial services industry.
Speaking on the opening, Ade Buraimo, Managing Director of Alpha Morgan Bank, said the move underscores the Bank’s commitment to accessibility and service excellence.
“Proximity matters in banking. As communities grow and commercial activity expands, financial institutions also evolve to meet customers where they are. The Utako Branch allows us to deliver our services to people in that community efficiently while maintaining the high standards our customers expect,”
The Utako location will provide a full suite of retail and corporate banking services, including account opening, deposits, transfers, business banking solutions, and financial advisory support.
Customers and members of the public are invited to visit the new Utako Branch to experience the Bank’s approach to satisfying banking.
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