Deposits by customers in Nigeria’s five major and strategically important banks crossed the N100 trillion thresholds at the end of September.

The banks pooled a total of N105.01 trillion, attracting an additional N8.44 trillion in new customer deposits in the first nine months of the year.

The five strategically important banks – Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), First HoldCo, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) – account for more than two-quarters of Nigeria’s banking deposits.

A report by The Nation’s Market Intelligence yesterday showed considerable brand loyalty by customers in the five strategically important banks, with all banks reporting growths in customer deposits during the period.

The nine-month report for the period ended September 30, 2026 indicated increase in customer deposits from N96.57 trillion in December 2025 to N105.01 trillion by September 2026, an increase of N8.44 trillion or 8.7 per cent.

ETI, with the largest base, grew customers deposits from N36.44 trillion to N36.70 trillion. Zenith Bank added N2.78 trillion in the first nine months, moving from N24.33 trillion to N27.11 trillion. First HoldCo’s customers deposit increased from N18.88 trillion to N22.91 trillion. GTCO saw increase from N12.55 trillion to N13.73 trillion.

Group Chief Executive Officer, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc Mr. Segun Agbaje, said the company’s performance in the third quarter reflected the strength of a franchise built on scale, efficiency and discipline.

“Despite a challenging operating environment and significant fair value losses in the period, our core earnings continued to grow, our deposit base expanded strongly, our cost efficiency remains among the best in the industry, and our balance sheet remains strong, liquid and well capitalised.

“Looking ahead, we will always optimise risk-free returns wherever we see them and will always be positioned to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities as market conditions evolve, without compromising the quality of our risk assets. We will also continue to evolve our platforms and adapt to new technologies to meet the changing needs of our customers, as we remain focused on delivering sustainable value and superior returns to our shareholders,” Agbaje said.

Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) Dr. Tayo Aduloju called on banks to deploy their enhanced balance sheet for the economic growth and transformation of the country.

He spoke at the fellowship investiture ceremony of CIBN. The theme of the event was “Bank Recapitalization: Leveraging New Bank Capital for Nigeria’s Industrial Transformation”.

Aduloju listed five ways under which commercial banks can provide industrial loans to companies noting that lenders needed to build industrial credit capability, sector desks for priority value chains transactions, and get engineers and analysts who can appraise plants, offtake and cash flows.

He added that banks also need to co-finance and share risk by syndicating loans with Bank of Industry (BoI), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) and international development finance institutions (DFIs) and use partner guarantees to stretch capital further.

He said banks would further need to lengthen tenor for facilities by tapping into pension and bond markets and refinancing lines to match long-gestation industrial projects.

According to him, with the issues around price risk with data requiring the banks to use credit bureaus, the movable-asset collateral registry and digital cash-flow data to lend beyond land collateral are also critical.

He said banks are also required to finance value chains, not just firms and also anchor-buyer and supply-chain finance linking MSME suppliers to large manufacturers, as well as green finance for cleaner energy.

Aduloju said a weaker naira has cut bank capitals’ dollar value by 71 per cent since the last recapitalisation done decades ago.

He said 46 per cent of bank loans go to oil and gas sector; 8.7 per cent goes to manufacturing compared to 17 per cent in recent years.

He said although recapitalisation built the capacity to lend, industrial transformation depends on where the fund is deployed.

He said: “The measure of this recapitalisation will be the extent to which it strengthens the industry’s productive capacity, enhances the competitiveness of its products, and expands its export potential”.

According to him, banks should lend to production, not only to safety while building the skills, partnerships and products that industrial finance needs.

He advised policy makers to make productive lending cheaper and safer: They need to lower reserve and funding costs, credible guarantees, reliable power and transparent data. (The Nation)