Banking
Top stories
With less than 7 months to the CBN’s March 31, 2026, recapitalisation deadline, Nigeria’s mid-sized lenders are scrambling to shore up their balance sheets, deploying a mix of capital raises, mergers and asset sales to meet the new minimum capital thresholds.
Uganda has obtained a $313 million syndicated loan from Ecobank, FirstRand and the Development Bank of South Africa to finance infrastructure projects, underscoring its growing reliance on African lenders after a two-year freeze in Western funding.
The measure, which aligns with the Bank of Ghana’s new forex directive, only applies to withdrawals from accounts funded through electronic transfers or cheque deposits.
Among the eight major banks reviewed, I&M Group posted the highest jump in after-tax profit at 36%, followed by Equity Group at 17% and NCBA at 12.6%.
Backed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country has unveiled its first Bank Neutral Cash Hub (BNCH), a move to curb theft, risk, and high cost of moving cash across locations.
Banque pour le Commerce et l’Industrie Mer Rouge (BCIMR), which controls nearly half of Djibouti’s banking market, is preparing an entry into Ethiopia’s recent liberalised financial sector.
In July, the CBN announced that eight banks had met their revised capital requirements, well ahead of the March 2026 deadline.
CBK noted that reported fraud cases more than doubled to 353 from 153, with the value of attempted fraud rising from KSh 680.9 million ($5 million) to KSh 1.9 billion ($14 million).
The Bank of Ghana has barred five international remittance operators from handling transfers for a month, citing unauthorised dealings with local payment firms, a move to enforce regulatory compliance.
Mamo Mihretu has stepped down as governor of Ethiopia’s central bank, a post he has held since January 2023 amid sweeping economic and monetary reforms.
The Federal High Court has ordered Unity Bank’s shareholders to vote on a merger with Providus Bank, a move that would see the century-old lender dissolve without winding up.
The Islamic lender also assured that it is on track to meet the October 31, 2025, deadline for migration to ISO 20022, saying its core payment infrastructure is already enabled for the new standard.
Union Bank of Nigeria, has finalised its merger with Titan Trust Bank (TTB), bringing an end to a process that began in 2021 when TTB acquired a controlling stake.
Sidi Ould Tah was sworn in on September 1, 2025 as the ninth President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), succeeding Nigerian economist Akinwumi Adesina, who completed a decade-long tenure.
The injection, funded through GTCO’s two-phased equity capital raising programme approved in 2024, increases GTBank’s share capital from ₦138.2bn ($90.1m) to ₦504.0bn ($328.8m) — surpassing the CBN’s ₦500bn ($326.2m) threshold.
Japan Credit Rating Agency has affirmed Afreximbank’s A- rating with a stable outlook, crediting its trade-finance role, amid ratings downgrade by Fitch and Moody’s.
Moody’s has described Nedbank Group Limited’s planned divestment of its 21.2% stake in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) as credit positive, saying the move will allow the South African lender to sharpen its focus on more profitable markets.
Access Holdings Plc, Nigeria’s largest banking group by assets, saw its share price extend a two-day losing streak on Thursday after the appointment of Innocent Ike as Group Managing Director/CEO.
Access Holdings, Nigeria’s largest banking group by assets, has appointed Innocent Ike as new Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, terminating Bolaji Agbede’s 18-month tenure.
South Africa Capitec overtakes FirstRand Bank to become Africa’s most valuable bank, helped by a mix of share rally, asset returns, and appointment of CEO Lee