Some of Nigerian banks are racing to meet the new capital requirements mandated by the central bank, a policy shift that is expected to strengthen the lenders’ resilience against shocks and enable them to make meaningful contributions to the country’s growth agenda.
The recapitalisation exercise, which began in 2024, sets N500 billion for commercial banks with international authorisation, N200 billion for national banks, and N50 billion for regional banks. For non-interest banks, the thresholds are N20 billion (national) and N10 billion (regional).
According to Business Day, deadline is March 31, 2026, less than three months away. Compliance window of 24‑month will end on March 31, 2026, a regulation that’s triggering a wave of equity issuances, merger talks, and balance-sheet restructuring across the sector.
This exercise, which is about survival, echoes a 2004 similar exercise under the then-CBN governor Charles Soludo, which forced banks to raise capital to N25 billion from N2 billion. That consolidation cut the number of lenders from 89 to 25 and paved the way for stronger players to emerge.
As of January 8, 2026, twenty one lenders have completed the new capital raise with Access Bank, the country’s largest lender by assets, emerging as the first to scale through the hurdle.
For context, CBN raised the minimum capital as follows:
International banks need ₦500 billion
National banks need ₦200 billion
Regional banks need ₦50 billion
Non interest banks need between ₦10 billion and ₦20 billion
Let us break it down clearly below:
International Banks That Have Crossed ₦500bn
Access Bank
Zenith Bank
First HoldCo (First Bank)
GTCO
UBA
Fidelity Bank
Access and Zenith did not just meet the requirement. They overshot it comfortably. That alone tells you who came prepared and who did not.
National Banks That Have Crossed ₦200bn
Wema Bank
Citibank Nigeria
Standard Chartered Nigeria
Ecobank Nigeria
Globus Bank
Stanbic IBTC
PremiumTrust Bank
Providus Bank through merger with Unity Bank
PremiumTrust deserves special mention. Just three years old and already hitting ₦200bn. That is aggressive banking.
Merchant and Non Interest Banks:
FSDH Merchant Bank
Greenwich Merchant Bank
Nova Bank
Rand Merchant Bank
Non-interest banks:
Jaiz Bank
Lotus Bank
TAJBank
Non-interest banks are not left behind, as Jaiz Bank, Lotus Bank, and TAJBank have beefed up their capital ahead of the CBN deadline.