The profits of Nigeria’s surviving banks have risen 12 times since the landmark 2005 banking recapitalisation led by former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, an analysis by THE PUNCH has shown.

The recapitalisation, which raised the minimum capital requirement for banks to N25bn, reduced the number of lenders from 89 to 25 through mergers, acquisitions and fresh capital raising. Over the past two decades, further consolidations, acquisitions and regulatory interventions have shrunk that number, leaving about 13 of the post‑recapitalisation banks still operating today.

The surviving institutions include Access Bank, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, FCMB, Guaranty Trust Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, Sterling Bank, United Bank for Africa, Wema Bank, Citibank Nigeria and Zenith Bank.

Analyses of nine of the banks show that profits jumped 1,056 per cent to N5tn by the end of 2025, from N43bn in 2005.

GTB’s profits grew from N5.36bn to N866bn, while Zenith’s climbed from N7.2bn to N1.04tn. Similarly, UBA rose 82 times to N404.7bn, while First Bank’s rose to N139.9bn from N12.18bn over the period.

Also, Access Bank’s profits jumped to N743bn by the end of 2025 from N501 million in 2005. Access Bank merged with Diamond Bank on 17 December 2018, and has since become Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets.

Similarly, Fidelity Bank’s profits climbed to N242.4bn from N3.21bn, while Wema rose from N906.4m to N194.5bn. First City Monument Bank’s profit grew from N797.8m to N202.1bn, while Stanbic jumped from N3.1bn to N381bn over the period under review.

“There has been tremendous expansion by banks in the last 20 years in terms of balance sheets, mergers, acquisitions, assets and new markets,” said a Lagos‑based former banker and fixed income analyst, Charles Anorum.

“We have seen the mergers of Access Bank and Diamond Bank, Standard Trust Bank and UBA, Stanbic Bank and IBTC Chartered Bank, Ecobank and Oceanic Bank, FCMB and FinBank, Sterling Bank and Equitorial Trust Bank, among many others. We have seen Nigerian banks like UBA, Zenith, GTB, Fidelity and First Bank expanding to new markets. We have seen more trust by bank customers and better regulations,” he added.

According to KPMG, these two decades of reforms have expanded balance sheets, boosted systemic resilience, and enhanced banks’ capacities to fund large‑scale projects and stimulate non‑oil sector growth. Similarly, Euromoney analysed the post‑2005 banking landscape in Nigeria, stressing that the phasing out of small “one‑man” banks led to zero‑tolerance policies on infractions and accelerated the deployment of robust tech infrastructures.

However, there have been downsides, according to Anorum, “We have seen heightened cases of fraud, poor customer service, banks’ neglect of small businesses and development sectors, and charges that are inexplicable.”