The 70% depreciation of the naira across 2023 and 2024 sharply increased the share of earnings and assets that foreign subsidiaries contribute to Nigerian banking groups, according to Fitch Ratings. The finding appears in a report titled “African Banking Groups’ Cross-Border Expansion to Continue,” published on September 14, 2026. The study covered 14 African banking groups operating in at least five African countries, each with consolidated assets above $15 billion at the end of 2025. Nigerian lenders reviewed were Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and First HoldCo Plc.
Fitch observed that the contribution of foreign subsidiaries to African banking groups has risen steadily over the past decade, with the pace quickening after the COVID-19 pandemic as lenders pursued growth and geographic diversification. For Nigerian groups, the 70% naira devaluation in 2023–2024 compounded the effect. UBA’s foreign operations represented 77% of net income in 2025, up from 44% in 2024, a jump the agency partly linked to weaker domestic performance. Overseas units also accounted for 52% of UBA’s total assets at end-2025.
Access Bank followed a similar pattern. Foreign subsidiaries contributed 48% of group net income in 2025, compared with 30% in 2021, and 51% of total assets at end-2025 versus 23% four years earlier. Fitch described Access Bank as the African lender with the fastest cross-border expansion in recent years. The July 2025 acquisition of Mauritius-based AfrAsia Bank Limited was cited as the most significant transaction, with AfrAsia’s balance sheet estimated at $6.9 billion, roughly 19% of Access Bank’s consolidated assets at the time.
Fitch noted that Access Bank recently exceeded a regulatory limit that caps investments in foreign subsidiaries at 10% of shareholders’ funds, a breach that has affected dividend payments. The bank is expected to restore compliance, potentially by reducing its shareholding in some overseas subsidiaries. Zenith Bank’s acquisition of Kenya’s Paramount Bank in April 2026 was also highlighted as part of a broader push by Nigerian and South African banks into East Africa.
On capital, Fitch said Nigerian banks raised substantial funds over the past two years to meet higher paid-in capital requirements that took effect at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Part of the capital absorbed losses arising from the withdrawal of regulatory forbearance on loan classification, while many lenders continue to maintain capital adequacy ratios above 20%. Fidelity Bank Plc and First City Monument Bank raised significant capital relative to their balance sheets to retain international banking licences despite relatively small United Kingdom operations, and Fitch expects both to deploy some of that capital into African expansion.
