One of Nigeria’s largest financial services groups, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), injects ₦365.85 billion ($236 million) into its flagship subsidiary, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited (GTBank), to meet Nigeria’s new capital requirements for lenders with international authorisation.
The move, announced in a regulatory filing on Friday, comes through the issuance of nearly 7 billion ordinary shares of the bank to GTCO via a rights issue.
The capital raise underscores how Nigerian banks are racing against time to comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recapitalisation directive, which gives commercial lenders until March 2026 to shore up balance sheets.
GTCO’s investment ensures GTBank retains its international license while positioning it to expand lending, grow its branch network, and strengthen its technology infrastructure.
With the fresh capital, GTBank’s share capital has risen from ₦138.2 billion to ₦504 billion, keeping the bank well above the CBN’s new minimum of ₦500 billion for international banks.
It joins other tier-1 lenders, Access Bank and Zenith Bank, that have met the new capital thresholds.
“The additional equity capital will be deployed by GTBank primarily for branch network expansion and asset growth (loans/advances and investment securities portfolio), fortification of its information technology infrastructure, and to leverage emerging opportunities in Nigeria and the operating environments where it maintains banking presence,” GTCO said in the filing.
GTCO’s equity raising programme was first approved at its 2024 annual general meeting and executed in two phases with clearance from regulators. The group continues to own 100% of GTBank following the allotment.
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The recapitalisation push has been one of the defining themes in Nigeria’s banking sector this year. In March 2024, the CBN ordered lenders to raise fresh equity in a bid to “build a more resilient banking system” after the naira’s historic devaluation and inflationary shocks battered capital buffers.
Analysts have warned that banks unable to meet the new thresholds face the risk of mergers or losing licences.
At least eight banks have fully met the recapitalisation requirements, CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso said in July, while others scramble to meet the 2026 deadline. Smaller lenders are exploring consolidation to survive.
For GTCO, the injection shores up one of Nigeria’s most profitable lenders, whose pan-African presence spans Ghana, Kenya, and the UK.
The group is betting that stronger capitalisation will allow it to compete for bigger ticket loans and digital banking opportunities across its markets.
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