Six Nigerian banks have made the list of Africa’s 20 largest lenders by total assets, highlighting the growing scale of the country’s banking industry following a major recapitalisation drive.

Access Bank leads the Nigerian lenders with assets of $36 billion, ranking 12th on the continent. United Bank for Africa (UBA) follows with$33.27 billion, Zenith Bank with $32.01 billion, Stanbic IBTC Bank with $24 billion and First Bank of Nigeria with $17.2billion.

South Africa’s Standard Bank Group tops the continental ranking with $218 billion, followed by Egypt’s National Bank of Egypt at $186 billion and South Africa’s FirstRand at $162 billion. Absa Group, Nedbank Group and Egypt’s Banque Misr complete the next three positions with $135 billion, $99 billion and $94 billion, respectively.

Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank, with $87 billion, South Africa’sInvestec Group, $81 billion, andMorocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire, $60 billion, round out the top 10.

The ranking was compiled from data attributed to S&PGlobal Market Intelligence, company reports, African Business, The Banker and African Research. Figures are stated in US dollars.

The emergence of Nigerian banks among the continent’s biggest lenders comes as the industry completes a two-year capital-raising exercise to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new minimum capital requirements.

Analysts said the more immediate catalyst for Nigerian bank stocks could be the country’s return to the FTSE Russell Frontier Market Index on September 21.

Nigeria was removed from FTSE Russell’s equity benchmarks in 2024 after foreign investors faced difficulties repatriating funds. Its reinstatement is expected to trigger portfolio adjustments by index-tracking funds and increase demand for large-cap Nigerian stocks. (Nigerian Tribune)