Elias Igbinakenzua is the managing director and chief executive officer of Globus Bank. In this exclusive interview with BusinessDay’s Wasiu Alli and Chinwe Michael, the CEO explains how the lender was able to complete its capital raise in record time ahead of the first quarter 2026 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Excerpts:

Globus Bank is relatively new in the industry. What would you say differentiates Globus from other commercial banks in Nigeria, and how are you navigating competition from Tier-1 banks and fintechs?

This is our 6th year of operation, so yes, we are relatively new in the industry. We came at the time of crisis if you recall – November 6, 2019, just before COVID emerged. I often say we were like a child born during the war, and that shaped our mindset to be problem solving and solution oriented.

From day one, we approached the market differently. We sat with customers and asked, ‘what are your pain points?’ then crafted solutions specifically to address them. That set us apart. During COVID, we accelerated our IT strategy, pulling forward plans we had set 3-4 years ahead to ensure banking could continue without disruption. Customers saw us as a bank that stood firmly with them, and that earned us their trust.

When FX became difficult to access and CBN was unable to satisfy the demand, we focused on alternative sources, meeting those needs within regulatory confines, without relying on the CBN. So that made us quite different from other banks at that time.

Competition is always going to be there, but we lean on our strengths: our people, our technology and our reach. These allow us to compete very well in the market. We are not in competition with the big names, rather we are in a unique way creating our market space and positive impact on all stakeholders. If you look at the market today, we are visible in over 80% of the top corporates in Nigeria. No other bank of our size and age has this reach. So, we will remain focused on making our impact and creating value rather than competing with the big banks.

Globus Bank prides itself as a digitally driven bank. So, what specific technologies or innovations are you betting on to shape the future of banking?

We describe ourselves as a ‘phygital’ bank, 20% brick and mortar and 80% digital. Since inception, we’ve recorded many firsts: the first bank to enable banking on mobile without data, and the first to integrate AI into a mobile app.

Today in Globus bank, most of our applications, including our token solution are developed in-house by our IT team of over 50 professionals with more than 30 focused purely on software development. Technology is our strength and we leverage that with our people to deliver solutions that stand out in the market.

With the recent opening of new branches, bringing the bank’s physical outlets to about 43. How does this expansion drive fits into the company’s broader plans?

From the outset, we were clear about our ambitionto be a household name in Nigeria. Our goal was to be in every state capital within our first 5-6 years and in every city in Nigeria by our tenth year. Today, we have 43 branches spread across the north, south, east and west. And these are in core cities, and just a little bit short of being in every state capital, because we have gone ahead to open more than one in some cities.

But we are over 90% done in that regard. And we think that is the way to go.

We do not believe banking should be strictly virtual for now. Physical presence reinforces credibility and connection. So, it has worked for us and we’re not stopping. This year alone, we have opened six new branches, and we intend to do at least 10 before the year ends.

How is Globus Bank contributing to Nigeria’s financial inclusion goals, especially among MSMEs and the unbanked?

From the business plan we submitted to the CBN for our license in 2018, financial inclusion was set as one of our core objectives, to be driven by technology.

We developed a mobile app that allows account opening from anywhere in the country in under four minutes, enabling customers to deposit and receive funds immediately. And a lot of people actually came on board. That was the idea of reaching out to the unbanked and the underbanked. And today, if you ask most of the youth, they will say their preferred bank is the Globus Bank.

Many young people, whether schooling abroad or locally have benefited from one or two soft loans from us. Beyond that, we have an MSMEs group called ‘Business Banking’ that’s focused on organizing training on accounting, proper record keeping, and good governance for MSMEs. These efforts have helped us reach the unbanked and underbanked and make them more bankable. So, we think we’ve done quite a lot in that regard to earn loyalty from this segment and we are not stopping.

In the face of rising default risks and economic uncertainty, how is Globus Bank managing credit exposure?

We have loan products — loans that are off the shelf. We offer ready-made loan products with clear criteria, enabling businesses and investors who qualify to access funds quickly without lengthy approval processes.

Our retail lending model is value chain driven – we look at the entire ecosystem a customer belongs to and determine how they fit into the chain? It’s like a stream. When the stream is flowing, it flows through veins. Following this vein ensures all relevant members of the value chain or ecosystem are captured and your needs are met.This approach helps reduce default risks and helps sustainability.

In the face of rising default risks and economic uncertainty, how is Globus bank managing credit explosion?

We are still zero NPL after 6 years, we don’t have a single bad loan just yet. I’m not saying we won’t have; for now, we don’t have. That’s because we have been very deliberate in picking those we lend to. Whether it’s MSMEs or whether it’s commercial banking or corporate borrower, we are very deliberate.

The risk of default is lower when credit decision making is collective. That is why, I am probably the only CEO who does believe in having management credit limits where the MD/CEO can virtually approve alone. Even though we have limits approved in line with good corporate governance practice, I insist on taking all credit approvals through the Board Credit Committee. There’s always a consensus on who we lend to.That way, mistakes are minimized.

When we came in as a new bank 2019, we had no legacy issues. So, COVID came and it made us more cautious. While many banks have issues to contend with, we were fortunate to be new and didn’t make those mistakes of old.

How is the CBN’s tightening stance and evolving monetary policy affecting your lending strategy and cost of funds?

First, let us give honour to whom honour is due. The CBN, under the new CBN governor, has done a great job. I must commend him and his team for that.

When he came in, inflation was soaring and the Naira was steadily crashing. Today, with the monetary policies put in place, we are seeing stability in the exchange rate and moderation in inflation, perhaps not as we want it to be, but it’s getting better, and this has led to restored confidence.

So, to that extent, we would say the CBN policies have been impactful. The impact of those policies on banks, however, is a different ball game. We have had to make numerous sacrifices as an industry to ensure that things return to normal. The current 50% Cash Reserve Ratio is the highest cash reserve ratio in the world. What it means today is that if I have deposits of say ?1 trillion, CBN will take ?500 billion at zero interest.

Meanwhile, I still pay customers interest at over 20%. I cannot use that money to do business because half of it has been sequestered by the CBN. That places a heavy strain on our ability to lend. We are struggling, but we also understand that it’s a time to make sacrifices to stabilize the economy and we are hoping that as things improve the CBN will ease this ratio a little bit and give banks some respite. Right now, it is tough.

What regulatory reforms would you like to see to enable better innovation or risk-taking in the banking sector?

On risk taking, we need to foster more borrower and lender discipline. The sanctity of contracts/agreements must be always upheld. The legal system and other relevant institutions must operate efficiently. The judiciary must ensure that justice is not unnecessarily delayed or denied. Financial dispute resolutions must be swift, because as you know, time is money. Confidence in our judicial system must be strong. Reforms in these directions will definitely strengthen the financial system in particular and the economy in general.

We also need to ensure that the credit bureaus that we have in place are very effective so that when the customer is listed as delinquent, they should not be able to access credit from anywhere until they have cleared their obligations. It was a good policy to establish credit bureaus, but the enforcement probably needs some improvement.

In addition, I think the idea of open banking, as already embraced, is good. But it needs to rapidly transition from a regulatory concept to an operational reality. Today, when opening a new account, I still have to get a customer’s BVN with multiple verifications, even when the customer already has an account in the system. Ordinarily, with open banking, the process is streamlined and much quicker.

Can you speak to your most recent financial performance? Particularly on deposit mobilisation and profitability.

I will not be able to give you the numbers for the current year, but I can share an overview based on historical performance. If you look at last year, our growth trend has been remarkable and consistent over the years.

In 2024, our gross revenue rose to N142 billion from about N67 billion in the previous year – more than double. Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew to N55.78 billion from N23 billion in the previous year– again more than double. Our total assets increased from just over N700 billion to N1.6 trillion and we paid about N25 billion in dividends for 2024 financial year.

Globus Bank has recently seen a wave of upgrades by credit rating agencies like GCR and Augusto & Co. What do these ratings mean for the bank’s operations?

A lot. They mean a lot to us. Being ‘A’ rated by Augusto & co. and ‘BBB’ rated by GCR, is unprecedented for a bank of our size and age. It shows that the agencies appreciate what we are doing.

In just six years of operation, we’ve had our ratings upgraded twice. That shows we have the right systems in place. We are mindful of the risks we take, we understand the risks we are managing, and we have the right systems to manage them.

It also demonstrates that we have done some things very right and we should continue on that trajectory. We want to appreciate our board, colleagues, and staff, for imbibing that discipline and adhering to good corporate governance practices.

Are there plans to expand across Africa or deepen your market in Nigeria before going international? And how has it been like being the pioneer CEO?

People say this all the time, and I say Nigeria is a very huge economy. In the whole of West Africa, there’s no market like Nigeria. In fact, in Africa, it is one of the top 4 economies by GDP. So, there’s no hurry to jump out there when there’s a lot at home that you need to first harness.

I see banks rushing to Ghana and other markets. The economy of Ghana is smaller than that of Lagos State alone So why should I be rushing out when I’ve not covered the market I have at home? I’m not in a hurry to jump out there. But at the right time, we will do it. For now, let’s focus and do it right at home. And then we have time to go out there. We still have a long way to go covering all the nooks and crannies of the country. And once we are done with that, then the need to go outside the country, perhaps will be given attention.

Being the pioneer CEO has been both rewarding and challenging, I must say. Starting something new is never easy. I must give credit to my partners, especially the chairman, Sir. Peter Amangbo and other members of the board.

When we started, it was a plain piece of paper, and we had to start crafting the details. Support from Peter and the board was invaluable. And I think we have sailed the ship well together since then to where it is now. I will not say it’s all me. Yes, I’m the pioneer CEO, but people have been there to support the whole dream of getting here today. I must also appreciate all the shareholders who believed in us and shared our dream. We have all remained together since inception, and together we will keep making the impact that the market desires.

If Globus Bank is a book and I’ve been asked to read that book, what chapter will you place in Globus bank?

We are still in the opening chapters honestly. Take capital raising, for instance. When the CBN announced the N200 billion capital requirement, people said, “Oh, CBN said N200 billion capital.” How are you going to do that? Little did they know that before CBN even came up with the new capitalization policy, we had our capital plans. The CBN only accelerated our timeline.

We had only N45.8bn when CBN announced the new capitalization policy. Some people advised that we can simply downgrade from National to Regional bank and operate with N50bn instead of N200bn. But we collectively said, forward ever, backward never. We resolved to achieve the new capitalization ahead of CBN deadline. Last year, 2024, we raised additional N53.0bn to take the paid-up capital to N98.5bn. This year, 2025, we have just completed the balance by raising another fresh capital of N102bn. So, subject to CBN’s capital verification, we have completed our capital raise exercise and have crossed the CBN requirement of N200bn for a bank with national authorisation, ahead of Q1, 2026 deadline.

This achievement is a sign of deliberate planning, consistent performance, and the ability to sustain investors’ confidence. I read in one newspaper a few weeks ago that Globus Bank may be one of the small banks that will be forced to merge due to the likely inability to meet the new capitalization requirement. I hope this gives them a clearer perspective. (BUSINESS DAY)