Nigeria’s top six banks are expanding their assets at a faster pace than their South African counterparts in local-currency terms,
This indicates that the nation’s biggest deposit money banks are aggressively accelerating their credit creation, investment and infrastructure over peers, according to analysts.
Over the past five years, the combined assets of Nigeria’s six biggest banks by assets, notably First Holdco, UBA, GTCO, Access, Zenith and now Ecobank, have surged 272 per cent, underscoring the growing capacity of these lenders to finance larger businesses and infrastructure projects.
The Nigerian lenders more than tripled their assets to N213tn ($154bn) by the first quarter (Q1) of 2026 from N57.22tn ($137.5bn) in Q1 2022.
On the other hand, South Africa’s ‘Big Six’, notably Standard Bank Group, FirstRand, Absa Group, Nedbank Group and Capitec Bank, grew their assets by just 40 per cent to R12.06tn in Q1 2026 from R8.60tn in Q1 2022.
According to an economist and former central banker, Chukwunonso Ihuoma, the rapid growth of the assets of the Nigerian tier-one banks could be attributed to expansion in their operations.
“As they increase their branch networks, customer base and investments, their asset sizes and asset quality rise,” he said, while also ascribing the asset growth to rapid increases in deposits and expansion into new markets.
Despite the gargantuan asset growth of Nigerian banks, South African banks are still much bigger than Nigerian counterparts. In dollar terms, the asset size of Nigeria’s biggest six lenders in Q1 2026 stood at $154bn, four times smaller than South Africa’s Big Six estimated at $664bn.
“Even though Nigerian big banks are growing their assets more than South African peers, caution must not be thrown to the wind. When a market becomes more mature, its growth becomes slower. It does not mean the market has tanked,” said a Lagos-based emerging markets analyst, Ike Ibeabuchi.
Access Bank more than tripled its growth to N53.1tn in Q1 2026. THE PUNCH found that it grew exponentially to N53.1tnn in Q1 2026 from N12.08tn in Q1 2022, marking a 339 per cent expansion over the five-year period. This strengthened Access Bank’s position as Nigeria’s largest bank by assets.
Ecobank grew its assets 336 per cent to N48.83tn in Q1 2026, strengthening its case as Nigeria’s second current largest bank by assets.
UBA’s assets jumped 273 per cent, solidifying its position as the nation’s third biggest lender by total assets. Its assets grew to N33tn in Q1 2026 from N8.89tn in Q1 2022.
Similarly, Zenith Bank grew its assets 210 per cent over the five-year period. Its assets rose to N32.012tn in Q1 2026 from N10.32tn in Q1 2022.
Moreover, First Holdco’s assets increased 192 per cent to N26.88tn in Q1 2026 from N9.21tn in Q1 2022, indicating a high level of expansion taking place in Nigeria’s oldest lender.
Also, GTCO’s assets grew 239 per cent to N18.7tn in Q1 2026 from N5.52tn in Q1 2022.
Effect of recapitalisation
Nigerian banks raised a total of N4.65tn (approximately $3.36bn) in fresh capital during the recapitalisation programme that concluded on 31 March 2026. Of these funds, 72.55 per cent was sourced from domestic investors, while the remaining 27.45 per cent came from international markets to meet the new minimum capital thresholds.