L-R: MD/CE, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Bello Hassan, presenting NDIC’s research publications to the visiting President and Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD), Alhaji Tijjani M. Borodo, FIoD, during the Governing Council’s courtesy visit to the NDIC’s Management in Abuja.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (NDIC) excellence in operational standards, consistent implementation of its mandate, and unwavering commitment to ethical leadership and sound corporate governance especially in banking supervision and depositor protection, have been critical factor in the Corporation’s success in promoting the stability of the banking sector and the nation’s financial system.

The President and Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD) Nigeria, Alhaji Tijjani Borodo, made these remarks during a courtesy visit by the CIoD Governing Council to the Management of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) at the Corporation’s Head Office in Abuja.

While commending the NDIC for its notable achievements in bank liquidation and resolution, he noted that poor corporate governance has been a major contributing factor to bank failures. He stated that as the apex professional body for directors in Nigeria, the CIoD has instituted mechanisms and procedures to sanction erring directors found culpable of unethical conduct.

He reaffirmed the Institute’s strong commitment to promoting high standards of governance and leadership across all sectors, including the banking industry.

Tijjani Borodo described the visit of the Governing Council of the CIoD opportunity to strengthen and sustain the partnership between the Institute and the NDIC, particularly in the area of capacity building through board induction programmes, executive leadership development, and governance training tailored to the specific needs of directors in both the public and private sectors.

In response, the NDIC MD/CE, Mr. Bello Hassan, expressed appreciation to the CIoD leadership in promoting professionalism and corporate accountability.

He emphasised the NDIC’s commitment to depositor protection and financial system stability, stressing that corporate governance is central to the Corporation’s operational mandate and critical in strengthening the integrity and resilience of banks as well as instilling public confidence in the financial system.

Mr. Hassan further reiterated the Corporation’s readiness to sustain its partnership with the Institute in advancing a strong culture of corporate governance among the NDIC’s executive staff and across the broader financial industry.

L-R: Chief Country Representative Nigeria & Head Trade Finance Financial Institutions Sub-Saharan Africa at Deutsche Bank, Andreas Voss; Group Head, Manufacturing Corporate Banking Group, First Bank Nigeria, Aina Dele-Adegbola; Group Treasury Manager, CFAO Nig Ltd, Yinka Ogunnubi; Managing Director, Head of International Banking Sales Africa at ODDO BHF, Alfred Idialu; Head of Commercial Finance,  Guinness Nigeria Plc, Oluwole Ajiboye; Global Head, Treasury and Investor Relations, Sunking Limited, and Head, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria (RMBN), Oluwaseyi Onanuga at Global Trade Review (GTR) West Africa Conference 2025 recently held in Lagos.

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), a leading corporate and investment bank in Africa, made a significant impact at the Global Trade Review (GTR) West Africa Conference 2025.

Held in Lagos recently, the event, themed “Financing Growth in West Africa’s Trade Epicentre,” brought together industry experts, influential personalities, and key stakeholders to shape the future of trade in the region.

With support from major regional players, the conference featured over 45 speakers across two dynamic days of knowledge sharing and networking.

GTR West Africa 2025 provided a platform for forging unique connections and exploring the latest trends, policies, and factors influencing trade, supply chains, infrastructure, and export financing in West Africa.

Oluwaseyi Onanuga, Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions at RMB Nigeria, was a panelist in the discussion, “Ghana, Nigeria and Beyond: Assessing Trade Prospects.”

Onanuga highlighted key reforms and developments boosting investor sentiment and the financing environment.

“The robust economic reforms initiated by Nigeria’s current administration are commendable steps towards advancing the economy. Measures like removing fuel subsidies and liberalising the foreign exchange market aim to foster macroeconomic stability and attract both local and foreign capital. Additionally, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial sector reforms are strategic efforts to safeguard the economy and bolster investor confidence,” he said.

With Nigeria and Ghana poised for significant strides in 2025, the outlook for trade finance is bright.

“We anticipate robust growth in intra-African commerce under the African Continental Free Trade Area. Enhancements to regulatory frameworks and payment-settlement infrastructures will broaden the trade-finance market, drive down transaction costs, reduce concentration risk, lower barriers to entry for emerging players, and foster a more inclusive and resilient trading environment in the region,” he added.

About RMB Nigeria Limited:

RMB Nigeria Limited is a leading African Corporate and Investment Bank and is a member of the FirstRand Group. RMB Nigeria offers its clients innovative, value-added advisory, funding, trading, corporate banking and principal investing solutions.

By Michael Owhoko, Ph.D

The astronomical rise in banks’ profit as reflected in the 2024 full year financial report has exposed the banking industry as a lucrative enterprise powered by arbitrary charges imposed on unwilling customers.

In some cases, these inexplicable charges and other unholy electronic deductions, leave customers to reel on the throes of pains, with impact on their blood.

That the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been penalising the banks for flouting stipulated guidelines as contained in its “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial, and Non-bank Financial Institutions”, is a confirmation that these banks deliberately use arbitrary and excessive charges to fleece customers, obviously to boost profitability.

Since these painful charges constitute part of the big profits made by banks at the expense of customers, they are likened to blood profits.  Like blood money which is obtained at the expense of another’s man’s life, blood profits are earnings gained by banks at the cost of customers’ blood.

In context, blood here refers to the sweat, sacrifice, pains, frustration and helplessness customers go through when deductions veiled in hidden and arbitrary charges are made on their accounts.

In other words, bank earnings are tantamount to blood profits when viewed against the backdrop of resultant pains suffered by helpless customers who bear the brunt of arbitrary charges.

These charges are embedded in crazy debits alerts sent through SMS notifications and emails, and sometimes, they are delivered incoherently, in arrears or at odd hours, perhaps, to shield or distract customers from scrutinizing the alerts.  Besides causing general body imbalance, the charges also trigger mood swings and countenance upset among customers, once received.

Some of these crazy charges include, but not limited to commission on turnover, withdrawal fees, transfer charges, electronic money transfer, processing fees, VAT charges, ATM fees, debit or credit cards issuance, replacement or renewal fees, account maintenance fees, NIP transfer charges, SMS alert charges, stamp duty fees, interest charges, SMS VAT charges, hardware token charges, cybersecurity levy, bills payment fees, and other random levies.

Besides, the CBN’s recent introduction of on-site and off-site charges during cash withdrawals at ATM machines, is also unhelpful and inimical to current plight of bank customers, who are now compelled to pay withdrawal fees for use of ATM machines owned by banks other than theirs.  But where such transactions are carried out in customers’ own banks, such transactions attract no charges.  This introduction is coming on the heels of a fresh increase of SMS alerts charges from N4 to N6 per transaction, further compounding the woes of customers.

Implicitly, these charges constitute huge burden on the average bank customer who contends daily with depletion in his or her account balances.  Corporate customers or businesses are also not spared from these questionable charges that have become a drain on the balance-sheet of companies.

With about 312 million active accounts bank-wide as at December 2024, these irrational charges have contributed immensely to the bottom line, occupying a larger space in the profit basket of banks, dislodging loans and foreign exchange sources of profits, which have diminished overtime by high-interest rate regime and prevailing foreign exchange dynamics.

For example, from the 2024 financial year report of just five of the tier 1 banks, the profit growth rose enormously with pre-tax profit hitting N4.56 trillion, approximately 69.5 percent increase compared to N2.69 trillion declared in 2023, while their net profit after tax rose by 66.2 percent in 2024, amounting to N3.78 trillion, as against N2.27 trillion recorded in 2023.

These five tier 1 banks, whose total combined assets in 2024 reached N108.21 trillion, from just N72.80 trillion recorded in 2023, include First Holdco Plc, GTCO Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, UBA Plc, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.

Specifically, First Holdco grew its profit before tax to N862.39 billion in 2024 from N356.15 recorded in 2023, just as its profit after tax rose to N736.7 billion in 2024 from N308.4 billion it earned in 2023. GTCO on the other hand, grew its pre-tax profit from N609.3 billion in 2023 to N1.27 trillion in 2024, with its net profit rising to N1.02 trillion in 2024 from N529.66 billion made in 2023.

Also, Zenith Bank grew its profit before tax to N1.33 trillion in 2024 from N795.96 billion recorded in 2023, just as its profit after tax rose from N676.9 billion in 2023 to N1.03 trillion in 2024. Similarly, UBA grew its pre-tax profit to N803.72 billion in 2024 from N757.68 billion it recorded in 2023, with its net profit increased from N607.7 billion in 2023 to N766.6 billion in 2024.

In the same vein, Stanbic IBTC Holdings reported a profit before tax of N303.8 billion in 2024 from N172.91 billion it made in 2023.  Its profit after tax rose to N225.3 billion in 2024, compared to N140.62 it recorded in 2023.

With charges as sources of cheap revenue, banks are no longer motivated to embark on constructive and creative efforts in their quest for profit generation.  Profits gained from matching of deposit funds against credit lending in consonant with traditional banking, are now waning.  Perhaps, this explains the drop in number of banks’ female employees deployed to chase depositors for cheap funds.

Though, lacking ingenuity and industry, use of charges as sources of cheap profits, can make the ordinary businessman to be envious of bank owners.  Even Aliko Dangote, as the richest man in Africa, perhaps, may be regretting for allowing his bank, Liberty Merchant Bank, to go under, just like previous bank owners whose banks have closed shop.  Their banks might have been sources of value addition to their wealth.

Regrettably, rather than portray the banks in positive light, these colossal profits shunned out by Nigerian banks, are stirring negative public perception about their operational methods, believed generally to be unhelpful to individual and business ventures, particularly, small and medium business enterprises.

The Federal Government and CBN are complicit in this unjustifiable charges and levies.  Reason: the Federal Government recently received approximately N84.05 billion from Electronic Money Transfer Levy alone in the first quarter of this year, 2025.  This is unhealthy, and a nightmare for the average Nigerian bank customer, who sees it as sheer extortion.

Since the government is a direct beneficiary of these charges, CBN may have been reluctant to exercise strict and regular oversight over the banks on compliance with its guidelines.  And this may have unwittingly, encouraged the banks to thrive in unbridled manner, particularly, in “under the table transactions.”  These boom and windfall profits would have been near impossible under a sane financial environment typified by global best banking practices.

So, while the banks jubilate for a job well done for full year 2024 financial reports, the real sector and individual customers for which the banks were established to support, groan and suffocate in pains due to business decline and losses suffered, including, in some cases, complete closure of operations and insolvency.

Put differently, the banking system has become a pain in the neck of customers.  While customers are experiencing frustrations from incessant debit alerts attributable to subjective and jumbled charges, corporate customers, in addition, also suffer from inability to access simple credits to run businesses, including foreign exchange to settle Letters of Credit.

It is therefore imperative to compel the banks to function appropriately without putting the customers through pains.  Gaps created by CBN’s unimpressive efforts at enforcing compliance with rules guiding bank charges, should be filled by various consumer protection agencies for the good of customers.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) established to protect the interest of consumers should rise to the challenge of banks’ growing quest for abnormal profit through use of arbitrary charges, devoid of empathy for emotional state of customers.

Some of the policies that necessitated the bank charges should be reviewed, so as not to discourage Nigerians from optimising the services of the banking industry.  Failure to do this, could undermine government’s cashless policy, with implication on banks’ total clientele base.  Moreso, as the country is still underbanked.

The banks must therefore, wake up, smell the coffee, feel the impulse of customers, and shore up the dwindling integrity and reputation of the banking industry.

Dr. Mike Owhoko, Lagos-based public policy analyst, author, and journalist, can be reached at www.mikeowhoko.com, and followed on X {formerly Twitter} @michaelowhoko.

Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack presenting a cheque to Team Carpooling, Winners of the 2024 Federal Public Service Innovation Competition organised by Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) is proud to announce its exceptional performance at the 2025 Federal Public Service Innovation Competition, emerging as both the overall winner (1st place) and Third runner-up (3rd place) out of 155 competing entries from across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

This remarkable achievement was announced by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOSF), Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, during the award ceremony held in Abuja on Tuesday, April 29.

The NDIC’s winning entry, the Carpooling Team, developed an innovative digital carpooling application that acts as a rideshare platform aimed at reducing commuting costs for federal workers — a solution that earned them the coveted top prize of N5 million.

In addition to this, a second NDIC team came in at third place with the prize of N3 million for an innovative digital platform to enhance staff productivity and streamline administrative processes called Perfoma. It acts as a convenient online secretariat that facilitates the creation and tracking of documents, as well as measuring the output and implementation of tasks to monitor performance of staff – a full packaged office-suite.

Speaking at the event, HOSF, Mrs. Walson-Jack, emphasised that “innovation is one of the six key pillars of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 (FCSSIP 25)” commending participating agencies for aligning with the federal government’s vision for a dynamic and efficient public service.

The MD/CE, Mr. Bello Hassan, who was represented at the ceremony by the Director, Strategy Development Department, Mrs. Gwa Uduwak Zachary, lauded the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) for sustaining the innovation tradition while commending the NDIC’s teams for their ground-breaking achievements underlining the Corporation’s commitment to excellence, problem-solving, and a forward-thinking approach to public service delivery.

While receiving the teams at his office, the MD/CE, NDIC stated that “this double recognition is a testament to the innovative spirit and professionalism that NDIC nurtures. Our teams have once again demonstrated the Corporation’s leadership in deploying technology and creative thinking to solve real-world challenges.”

The NDIC’s success in the competition, organised by the OHCSF, is a strong endorsement of its ongoing drive to embed innovation into its operational culture. It also reflects the Corporation’s strategic alignment with national priorities on public service reform, digital transformation, and cost-effective governance.

The NDIC remains committed to supporting and scaling solutions that improve service delivery across the civil service and contribute meaningfully to national development.