Eight leading Nigerian banks, including Access Bank, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank, have successfully met the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) minimum capital requirements ahead of the regulatory deadline.
The development marks a key milestone in the ongoing sector-wide recapitalisation exercise initiated by the CBN in March 2024 to strengthen the financial system’s resilience and enable banks to support the $1 trillion economy vision of the Federal Government.
According to a senior official at the CBN who spoke on condition of anonymity, the apex bank has received and verified updated capital positions from several top-tier and mid-tier lenders. “At least eight banks have crossed the minimum threshold, and more are on track. We are encouraged by the level of compliance so far,” the official said.
While the CBN has not officially published a list of compliant institutions, industry insiders confirmed that Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, UBA, GTBank, First Bank, Fidelity Bank, and FCMB are among the early movers that have either raised capital through rights issues, private placements or retained earnings.
In a statement earlier this year, the CBN mandated commercial banks with international licenses to shore up their minimum capital base to ₦500 billion, national banks to ₦200 billion, and regional banks to ₦50 billion, with a compliance deadline set for March 2026.
Access Holdings had announced earlier this month that it raised over ₦350 billion in the first tranche of its capital raising plan, while Wema Bank, one of the fastest-growing tier-2 lenders, disclosed a rights issue programme expected to close in Q3 2025. Zenith Bank, known for its strong capital adequacy ratio, met the requirement largely through retained earnings and profit reserves.
Market analysts say the early compliance by top banks is a confidence booster for the sector and is likely to drive consolidation, especially among smaller banks struggling to meet the capital benchmarks.
“The recapitalisation exercise will separate strong players from weaker ones. We expect to see mergers, acquisitions, and possibly licence downgrades before the final deadline,” said financial analyst Tola Adebajo of AlphaEdge Advisory.
The CBN is expected to issue an interim compliance update by the end of Q3 2025, as part of its phased monitoring of the recapitalisation progress.
