Richest Banks in Nigeria ( By Asset Value)

The Nigerian banking industry is one of the most competitive and vibrant in Africa. The market has been characterized by rapid growth but also a high degree of volatility.

At present, there are over 100 banks registered in Nigeria with about 10 of these having more than five percent shareholding each. This post looks at the 10 Richest Banks in Nigeria by asset value.

It is really amazing how Nigerian banks are rapidly developing and becoming more competitive in the global market. They are doing a great job by providing cheap services for customers, not forgetting to mention how they also have extensive networks across Nigeria.

Nigerian banks have extended operations beyond Nigeria, they now finance projects in other African countries. The Nigerian banking market is one of the most competitive and vibrant on the continent and now regarded as having the strongest and most stable banks in Africa.

According to Q3 2020 Financial reports of commercial banks in Nigeria, there are 10 banks in Nigeria that have the most assets or total value.

1) Ecobank Group – ₦9.3 Trillion

Ecobank Group is rated as the richest bank in Nigeria with assets of ₦69.91 billion according to the 2020 Q3 financial result. The full financial report shows that the bank holds Assets with a combined value of about $24.4 Billion which is equivalent to over ₦9.3 Trillion, and operates in as many as 33 different African countries including South Sudan and Congo Brazzaville, where its total values of properties and equipment are worth more than ₦316 Million which is about 0.003% of their total asset!

Since it was established in 1991, Ecobank expanded to become the biggest bank by assets. They received two prestigious awards last year: one from African Banker Magazines for Innovation in Financial Services and another from Euromoney Awards for Excellence recognizing their work at “driving change.”

2) Zenith Bank – ₦7.973 Trillion

Zenith Bank PLC tops the list of 10 Richest Banks in Nigeria. It is ranked as the first Nigerian bank on Bloomberg’s latest Global Top 50 banks ranking with revenue of over N600 Million recorded in 2020 and total assets worth at least N8 billion, according to Bloomberg.

The Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) also named Zenith Bank as one of the 10 banks with assets of over N7 billion in Nigeria. Zenith Bank was founded by Jim Ovia in 2010 with an initial capital of N20 million.

Zenith Bank’s 2020 financial result positioned her as one of the most profitable banks in Nigeria, with an equity value of over ₦1.034 Trillion (₦1,034,341,000) just ahead of GTBank and First Bank at 1st place respectively.

For the year ended their total liability was only a bit higher than Access bank but it was about 500 billion more than that posted by UBA as well as Ecobank who came up 2nd for both categories this time around so Zenith has been doing something right!

3) Access Bank – ₦7.925 Trillion

Access Bank is the second-largest bank in Nigeria with total assets of over ₦7.925 Trillion. It has a network of more than 400 branches and employs approximately 10,000 staff members across the country.

Access Bank, after its recent merger with Diamond Bank of Nigeria, has a reported 29 million customers. This is one of the most popular mergers in Nigerian history and was first announced back in 2019. The merger was agreed at around $235 Million which converts to approximately ₦100 Billion at today’s exchange rate.

The bank’s total asset value for the 2020 Financial Year stands at ₦7,924,720,855.000 (i.e 7 trillion Nigerian Naira). This asset’s Value was matched closely by Liabilities which stood just over ₦7.245 trillion and means that the bank’s equity is about 679 Billion as of September 2020.

4) First Bank – ₦7.243 Trillion

The First Bank of Nigeria PLC (FBN) is the largest bank in West Africa with an asset base standing at ₦7.243 Trillion, as of September 30th, 2020. The group has five subsidiaries – FBN Securities Plc., FBN Asset Management Company Limited, Monterosa Investment Services and Trust Company Ltd., FMB Bank, and FBN Insurance Company Limited.

First Bank is the first bank in Nigeria and has been around for over 100 years. They’re currently operating across 10 different countries, with 7 of those being African (Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea Bissau Senegal DRC Gambia Sierra Leone).

In 1990, FMB Group plc rebranded itself as FBN Holdings Limited and adopted a new logo to reflect this change. The First Bank of Nigeria has over 450 branches in Nigeria and across the continent is among the top five banks in Nigeria.

The bank’s total asset value as of September 30th, 2020 sits at about ₦7.243 trillion while its equity for that same period stands at an impressive amount: just a little bit above United Banks Of Africa UBA, it ranks 3rd on profitability within this timeframe (September 2019 to September 2020).

The bank has done very well this year, with its Gross Earnings increasing by 5.1% from ₦417.9 billion to ₦439.3 billion due in large part to the non-interest earnings which skyrockets by as much as 50%.

5) United Bank of Africa (UBA) – ₦7.06 Trillion

UBA is one of the largest and most profitable banks in Nigeria with total assets of ₦7.059 trillion, as of September 2020.

It is one of the most valuable banks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and it has a market capitalization of N253 Billion as of today. UBA was founded in 1948.

United Bank for Africa is a well-known financial services company in the African continent. The Company offers banking, pension fund custody, and other finance-related products to customers from different segments of society on their home turf as well as abroad.

The bank currently operates offices across 20 countries on the African continent, as well as branches of the U.S., UK, and France. The company is owned by Tony Elumelu who donates over $100 million to fund entrepreneurship projects for young entrepreneurs in Nigeria and throughout Africa.

The Bank’s total assets stand at ₦7,059,797000 million (about ₦7.059 trillion). For the same period of time, its liabilities were about ₦6.404 trillion and when this is subtracted from the asset value leaves a shareholder equity of approximately $655 billion for the financial year ending 30 September 2020.

6. Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) – ₦4.574 Trillion

GT Bank is next on our list of top 10 richest banks in Nigeria. As per the bank’s financial report, GT Bank has a total asset value of about 4 trillion Nigerian Naira (₦). Between September 2019 and 2020 alone for example its liabilities totaled 3.818 trillion naira while it was left with just over 750 billion as shareholders equity at any given point during this time period – that said you can see how much they’re worth!

The GT Banks had a disappointing 2019, experiencing a 1.9% dip in Gross Earnings when compared to the Financial Year before and closing at ₦3.3 billion less than their original earnings from last year despite showing good promise of better days during its third-quarter operations which are spread across 10 African countries along with London’s United Kingdom the UK where they have over 12,000 staff members that makeup the Bank

The bank’s performance was met by some disappointment this past year as it experienced significant losses following an impressive 2018 but has shown promising signs for future growth due to them having set up shop on ten different continents including Africa and Europe.

7) Fidelity Bank – ₦2.886 Trillion

Fidelity Bank is yet another commercial bank on our list of the richest banks in Nigeria. It’s headquartered in Lagos, and its stock trades on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as FIDICOY-NSE. As a commercial bank, Fidelity Bank offers many different services to its customers. It also engages in personal and corporate banking.

This bank has combined assets total worth over ₦2.5 billion and is one that operates solely within Nigerian borders – though the bank evolve from a Merchant Bank to Commercial Banking in 1991. The merger between three other banks occurred back in 2005 after gradual changes happened during each financial year.

In the Financial Year ended 30 September 2020 for example it managed 2 Trillion Naira in liability and left with 338 Billion Naira shareholder’s equity for the year.

8) Stanbic IBTC – ₦2.579 Trillion

The Stanbic IBTC Bank was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.

Stanbic IBTC is one of the most trusted banks in Nigeria and has been around for decades. You can find them as early as 1989 when they were known by their old name, IBTC.

They received a Universal Banking License from the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2002 which enabled them to do more than just Merchant Banking. One year later, Stanbic went public with shares being sold on Nigerian Stock Exchange!

Wow, the bank’s total asset value for the Financial Year ended 30 September 2020 stood at ₦2.579 Trillion! That is well over two and a half billion dollars!

Conclusion

Richest banks in Nigeria. Ecobank, Zenith, Access, and First bank according to the 2020 Financial year report are the richest banks by asset value.