Nigerian banks raised about N800 billion in fresh capital between January and July 2025 as they worked to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) new minimum capital requirements, according to Agusto & Co's 2025 Nigerian Banking Industry Report, reported on 20 August 2025.
The pan-African credit rating agency said the 2025 total followed N1.7 trillion raised by 16 banks in 2024, bringing the capital mobilised over 19 months to more than N2.5 trillion. It expects a further N900 billion to be injected before the end of 2025 as banks strive to comply with the directive. Agusto & Co said domestic investors had provided most of the capital raised, and noted that mandatory verification by the CBN and the Securities and Exchange Commission was still pending on some of it.
Eight banks had met the new minimum capital requirement as of 31 July 2025, according to a disclosure by CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso.
TIERED CAPITAL THRESHOLDS
The CBN introduced the requirements in March 2024, setting minimum capital of N500 billion for commercial banks with international authorisation, N200 billion for commercial banks with national authorisation and N50 billion for regional and merchant banks, with N20 billion and N10 billion for national and regional non-interest banks respectively. Banks have until 31 March 2026 to comply.
PROFITABILITY OUTLOOK
Agusto & Co forecast a 19.2% decline in the industry's profit before tax in 2025, with pre-tax return on average equity falling to 27.3% from 48.2% in 2024. It linked the expected decline to higher impairment charges after the CBN ended regulatory forbearance in June 2025, and to lower foreign-currency revaluation gains. The agency projected that the industry's non-performing loan ratio would rise to 6.9% by the end of 2025 from 5.2% at the end of 2024, as loans previously covered by forbearance are classified appropriately.
The report said the industry remained liquid, with a liquidity ratio of 59.4% at the end of 2024, up from 43.5% a year earlier. Agusto & Co assigned a stable outlook to the sector and expects profitability to rebound in 2026 as the proceeds of capital raising are deployed.
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