The Chairman of the Board of Directors, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Tony Elumelu, on Friday assured stakeholders that the bank will meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) N500 billion minimum capital requirement for international commercial banks by Q3 2025, ahead of the deadline.
The CBN had increased the capital base for commercial banks with international authorisation to N500 billion, and for national banks to N200 billion.
This sweeping financial reform, announced on March 28, 2024, mandates substantial increases in the minimum capital base for banks, depending on the scope of their operations.
The policy directive specifies that commercial banks with international authorisation must now shore up their capital base to N500 billion.
Elumelu, who reacted to the CBN’s requirement during the 63rd Annual General Meeting of the bank held in Abuja, acknowledged that the minimum capital requirements set by the apex bank aim to strengthen the financial sector and better position it to support the real economy.
“Banks were given until March 2026 to comply with these new performance requirements, with options including raising additional capital, pursuing mergers and acquisitions, or downgrading their licenses to align with current capital levels,” he added.
He explained that in line with the CBN directive, UBA began its capital raising activities with its first rights issue in November 2024.
“The rights issue closed in December 2024 with 6.84 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each offered to existing shareholders at N35 per share.”
He noted that the issue was oversubscribed by N11.6 billion (4.8%), and the entire amount of N251.0 billion has been verified and approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He added, “The final capital raise is expected to be completed in Q3 2025, well ahead of the CBN deadline.”
He also highlighted that the proceeds from the rights issue will be used to invest in additional digital technologies and business expansion, strengthening the bank’s seven-and-a-half decades of impressive performance.
UBA CEO, Oliver Alawuba, assured stakeholders that the bank would continue to pay strong dividends to shareholders.
“What we can assure our shareholders today is that UBA will continue to pay more dividends. The total dividends to be paid for the year ended December 31, 2024, amount to N102 billion. And this is just the beginning,” he added.
He emphasised that UBA has moved beyond paying small dividends in Kobo.
“I’m sure our shareholders never imagined that UBA would pay a total dividend of five naira in one year.
“When you look at the dividend yield, we are the highest among our peers—and we will continue to deliver on that,” he added.
Regarding shareholder expectations, Alawuba stated that UBA, now present in 24 countries, is heavily investing in digital banking, the future of the banking sector.
According to him, these initiatives will drive more revenue for UBA, making higher dividend payouts feasible in the coming year.
According to the CBN circular, to meet the minimum capital requirements, banks are expected to consider injecting fresh equity capital through private placements, rights issues, and/or offers for subscription; pursuing mergers and acquisitions (M&AS); and/or upgrading or downgrading their license authorisation.
Additionally, the circular noted that the minimum capital will consist solely of paid-up capital and share premium. It emphasised that the new capital requirement will not be based on shareholders’ funds.
