E-Financial
UBA, 12 Nigerian Banks Make Top 1000 World Ranking
Nigerian-Banks for the second consecutive year, 13 Nigerian banks made the list of Top 1000 World Banks as published by The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group in its 2014 edition.
The publication also coincided with the global banks’ resurgence to profit of $920 billion, the first time since the global financial crisis, which is 23 per cent more than their previous peak of $786 billion achieved in 2007 before the financial crisis.
The 13 Nigerian banks that made the ranking underlines Nigeria’s number one position in the continent, as no other African country has up to 13 slots among the 1000 World banks.
According to a release by the Country Representative, Nigeria, of the publication, Kunle Ogedengbe, the Nigerian banks that made the ranking based on Tier-1 capital are Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Fidelity Bank and Ecobank Nigeria.
Others are Skye Bank, First City Monument Bank, Diamond Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and Union Bank of Nigeria.
Zenith Bank is ranked top in Nigeria at 293, as Guaranty Trust is on number 415, First Bank on number 424, Access Bank 532, United Bank for Africa ranked 539 and Fidelity 622.
Profit on capital of three Nigerian banks that are not foreign-owned subsidiaries increased.
These are First Bank, with its profit on capital increasing to 25.32 per cent from 25.13 per cent; Access Bank from 21.19 per cent to 21.24 per cent; and First City Monument Bank 15.77 per cent from 15.07 per cent.
The Editor of the magazine, Brain Caplen, noted that the 23 per cent increase in profit of global banks from 2007 “is a good news, but the better news is that capital has also increased at a reasonable pace whereas assets have stayed flat.
To him, this means that returns on capital are only slightly improved, but the hope is that this upturn is more sustainable than the last one.
Caplen disclosed that a large proportion of the profit is from China– about 32 per cent of the total, which is more than the next three highest profit countries of USA, Japan and Canada combined.
Of the 25 top banks in Africa from the ranking, the highest of the eight is from Nigeria, while the United Bank for Africa is the only Nigerian bank in the top 10 highest movers in Africa.
Africa has 31 banks in the top 1000 World banks in 2014, with Nigeria having 13 representing 41.94 per cent.
The 31 African banks in the ranking are from nine countries- Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Angola, Gabon, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco and Togo.
Globally, the Senior Editor of the magazine, Philip Alexander, stressed that banks in this 2014 ranking “are stronger than ever” as “the level of capital held by banks in this ranking continues to accelerate, with the minimum Tier 1 capital required to enter the Top 1000 World Banks now fast approaching $400 million. This has almost doubled since the 2005 ranking.”
The Banker, a publication of Financial Times Newspaper, which is regarded as the most influential newspaper in the world, is a global financial intelligence magazine published since 1926.
It is the definitive publication that provides guide to bank ratings and analysis globally and the definitive reference on international banking for finance experts, governments, chief finance officers, chief executive officers, Central Bank Governors, Finance Ministers, and other decision makers globally.
According to the Global Capital Markets Surveys, the only independent media benchmarking study available in the capital markets industry and provides insight into who reads what at the world’s financial institutions, amongst monthly finance titles globally, The Banker is number one.
Debt Management Office (DMO) said the federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter of 2026.
The office disclosed the data in its latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026.
The figure comprises N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments.
The agency said in January, the government spent N741.82 billion on domestic debt service, while the figure rose to N967.67 billion in February.
Debt service increased further to N1.43 trillion in March, bringing the total for the quarter to N3.14 trillion.
The March figure was 47.7 percent higher than the N967.67 billion recorded in February and 92.7 percent above the N741.82 billion spent in January.
Also, the debt office said interest payments accounted for about 94.6 percent of total domestic debt service during the quarter.
The DMO said treasury bills accounted for the largest share of interest payments at N1 trillion, while interest on federal government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion.
The agency said the government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the period.
The DMO said the principal component of the debt service comprised N169.68 billion in repayments on local-denominated promissory notes.
Overall, the government’s domestic debt service rose sharply through the quarter, with March accounting for almost half of the N3.14 trillion spent between January and March.
Nigeria’s public debt increased by 0.01 percent to N159.35 trillion in the Q1 of 2026.
Interswitch Group, an integrated digital payments and commerce company, together with global banking software provider, Temenos have reassured the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of their commitment to advancing the modernisation of Nigeria’s financial services sector.
Interswitch and Temenos had earlier in June announced a strategic partnership across Africa which would see Interswitch leverage Temenos solutions – across core banking, digital banking, payments, wealth management and financial crime mitigation – to provide cloud-hosted and on-premises managed services to banks and financial institutions across Africa.
This will enable institutions to progressively transform their banking platform and evolve to more customer-centric business models. The service will initially support key African markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and others.
The recent regulatory visit to CBN headquarters in Abuja, was led by the Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, and Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) at Temenos, Santhosh Rao, as part of the ongoing efforts by both organisations to deepen collaboration with Central Banks across the African region on the future of digital banking infrastructure across Nigeria and key African markets.
Discussions centred on the strategic partnership between Interswitch and Temenos, and how it will enable Nigerian financial institutions to progressively modernise their core banking platforms and transition to more customer-centric business models.
The two organisations also explored opportunities to work with the CBN in charting new frontiers in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) innovation, leveraging resilient financial networks and decentralised application platforms to support the issuance and management of CBDCs.
Commenting on the visit, Elegbesaid: “Our partnership as Interswitch with Temenos and our continued engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria reflect a shared commitment to building banking infrastructure that is resilient, inclusive, and ready for the next phase of Africa’s financial evolution.
We are proud to be at the table as these conversations shape the future of digital banking technology and innovation across key Africa markets…”
The Bank of Industry, through BOI Financing SPV Plc, has opened subscriptions for its inaugural Series 1 Fixed Rate Bond worth up to N250bn under its $1bn multi-currency instruments programme, seeking to raise long-term capital to finance businesses across Nigeria’s priority sectors.
The offer, which opened on 5 August and closes on 11 August, is being arranged by Chapel Hill Denham as the lead issuing house. The five-year bond is priced within a yield range of 17.35 per cent to 17.50 per cent and will be listed on the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
According to the offer document, proceeds from the issuance will be deployed to finance eligible businesses and projects across sectors, including agriculture and food processing, healthcare, engineering and technology, renewable energy, petrochemicals, oil and gas, creative industries and solid minerals, in line with BOI’s development finance mandate.
The lender said the financing is expected to improve access to medium and long-term funding for Nigerian enterprises, expand productive capacity, create and preserve jobs, deepen local value addition, support import substitution, boost exports and strengthen domestic value chains.
BOI, Nigeria’s foremost development finance institution, said it has provided funding to more than one million businesses across the country and disbursed over N1.27tn between 2023 and 2025. The institution operates across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory and is jointly owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The bank also highlighted its financial performance, reporting a 36 per cent compound annual growth rate in gross earnings between 2021 and 2025.
Interest income rose 64 per cent to N884bn in 2025 from N538bn in the previous year, while its capital adequacy ratio stood at 39 per cent, nearly four times the regulatory minimum of 10 per cent. Its non-performing loan ratio was 1.7 per cent, below the CBN’s prudential limit of five per cent.
The bond has been assigned AAA ratings by Agusto & Co. and Intelligence Africa, reflecting the issuer’s strong capitalization, profitability, liquidity and ownership structure.
The issuance is open to institutional and qualified investors with a minimum subscription of N5m and additional investments in multiples of N1m. Interest will be paid semi-annually at a fixed rate, while principal repayment will begin in the third year through equal semi-annual amortised instalments until maturity in 2031.
The bond is also exempt from tax, making it an attractive investment option for investors seeking stable returns amid expectations of declining interest rates.
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