Banking
Fitch Affirms Fidelity Bank at ‘B-‘, Gets Positive Reviews
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerian medium-sized lender, Fidelity Bank Plc, has had its Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) rating affirmed by Fitch Ratings at ‘B-‘ with the outlook stable.
Fitch said in a statement that the bank’s Viability Rating (VR) has been also affirmed at ‘b-‘ and Support Rating at ‘5’, while its National Ratings were also confirmed.
Fidelity Bank is a financial institution with a market share of around 4%-5% of domestic loans and deposits. Its small franchise limits the size and scope of business it can undertake and the bank has developed a niche focus on selected corporate business sectors and relatively underbanked sectors, such as the financing of SMEs. Fidelity Bank operates solely in Nigeria.
Lending to SMEs in Nigeria requires more flexible underwriting standards to address their limitations and underwriting standards are adapted to meet the needs of the bank’s niche customer base.
Despite a focus on SMEs, Fidelity Bank’s impaired loans/total loans ratios (5.9% at end-September 2017) are broadly in line with the average for rated second-tier Nigerian banks (around 6.5%). Asset quality trends are favourable, reflecting loan restructuring and some recoveries in 2017. The sustainability of this trend will become clear over time.
Fidelity Bank’s earnings and profitability ratios are in line with the sector averages although performance metrics for second-tier banks vary considerably. There were some positive earnings developments in 2017.
Margins are improving, loan impairment charges are reducing as a percentage of pre-impairment operating profit and investments in technology are helping to improve cost/income ratios.
Fidelity Bank’s funding profile is fairly typical of a smaller Nigerian bank. Franchise limitations make deposit collection more difficult and Fidelity’s loans/deposit ratio hovers around 100%. Depositor concentrations are fairly high, with the top 10 deposits typically representing about 13% of total customer deposits. Low-cost demand and savings deposits represent around 75% of customer deposits, which is positive. Naira liquidity ratios are at levels that are marginally above the 30% regulatory minimum.
Access to foreign currency (FC) was particularly tight for Nigerian banks in 2016 but the bank did not delay any payments on its FC trade-related and bank obligations, even at the height of the liquidity squeeze.
The FC liquidity situation eased in Nigeria throughout 2017 and in October Fidelity Bank raised a senior five-year $400 million bond on the international capital markets. This has eased the bank’s FC liquidity position. Funds raised were partly used to repay $256 million of a $300 million Eurobond bond originally maturing in May 2018.
Loan loss cover ratios (68% at end-September 2017) are slightly lower than peer averages (75% – 80%).
Fidelity Bank meets minimum 15% capital ratios requirements, but the bank’s ability to withstand even moderate shocks may be limited considering below average loan-loss cover ratios, high single name concentrations and potential asset-quality deterioration.
Fidelity Bank’s National Long-Term Ratings reflect its creditworthiness relative to the country’s best credit and to peers operating in Nigeria.
Fidelity Bank’s senior unsecured bonds are rated in line with the bank’s IDRs. In our view, the likelihood of default on these notes reflects the likelihood of default of the bank. The Recovery Rating (RR) assigned to these bonds is ‘RR4’, indicting average recovery prospects.
Fitch believes that sovereign support to Nigerian banks cannot be relied on given Nigeria’s (B+/Negative) weak ability to provide support, particularly in FC. In addition, there are no clear messages from the authorities regarding their willingness to support the banking system. Therefore, the Support Rating Floor (SRF) of all Nigerian banks is ‘No Floor’ and all Support Ratings (SR) are ‘5’. This reflects our view that senior creditors cannot rely on receiving full and timely extraordinary support from the Nigerian sovereign if any of the banks become non-viable.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn