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By Chukwuma Umeorah
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that about 20 deposit money banks (DMBs) have now met the new capital requirements under the ongoing banking recapitalisation programme.
The Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr Muhammad Abdullahi, disclosed this while speaking at the launch of the 2026 Macroeconomic Outlook of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group in Lagos.
“I think that even at the inception of the capitalisation programme, the major focus is how do we ensure that we have stronger banks that can support our drive towards a trillion-dollar economy? And the only way to get there is through the credit-review sector, to SMEs, to businesses that require funding at good rates. So as we close up towards March, I mean, the efforts have been quite impressive. We have about 20 banks that have already met it. A number of banks are meeting it every day. They’re huge. It’s very busy within CBN today, tomorrow, and through to March, as you can imagine,” Abdullahi said.
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He emphasised that recapitalisation alone is insufficient, noting that the strengthened capital base must translate into productive and sustainable lending. “The focus that we really are turning our attention to, especially from the financial system stability side, is that we ensure that a strengthened capital base translates into credit that is productive, that is well-targeted, and that is sustainable,” he said.
Abdullahi added that the apex bank has strengthened its regulatory capacity using technology to monitor that capitalisation benefits reach priority sectors, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). He also indicated that the CBN would intervene where banks fail to channel increased capital into productive lending.
Beyond banking, he highlighted Nigeria’s development finance challenge, estimating funding needs across critical sectors at about N230 trillion, while the combined capitalisation of all development finance institutions remains below N9 trillion. “There’s a clear programme to see how we correct the incentives in each of the DFIs to ensure that when people give up money, it’s not seen as government money that should just be wasted,” Abdullahi said.
He added the focus has now shifted toward mobilising private sector capital, both domestic and international, and that the Ministry of Finance is leading development finance strategy, with the CBN providing regulatory support.
