Jaiz Bank Plc held a hybrid Annual General Meeting today where Managing Director/CEO, Dr Haruna Musa, presented the bank’s audited results for the year ended December 31, 2025, before taking questions from the media.
Musa highlighted a 19 per cent rise in total assets to ₦1.29 trillion, a 24 per cent jump in customer deposits to ₦1.12 trillion, and a 28 per cent growth in profit before tax to ₦31.24 billion. He also disclosed that shareholders at the AGM approved an additional ₦150 billion capital raise — a move he said would position Jaiz Bank to compete on equal footing with Nigeria’s largest conventional banks.
Below are excerpts from the question-and-answer session that followed his address.
On deepening agricultural and SME lending
Jaiz Bank has always been at the forefront of supporting agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprises. Our focus for 2026 is financial inclusion through agency banking — given the size of Nigeria, agency arrangements are the most effective way to reach every part of the country, and we have a dedicated department driving that.
Digital transformation is also central; through mobile and internet banking, customers anywhere can transact seamlessly. We also have a new set of SME and retail products awaiting final regulatory approval, designed to make accessing credit a straight-through digital process — customers won’t need to visit a branch at all.
On the ₦150 billion capital raise
With today’s shareholder resolution, the next step is engaging prospective investors and seeking regulatory approval. Once secured, we expect the raise to come in two or three tranches. We intend to begin the process immediately and aim to close it within this quarter — that is, by the end of September 2026.
On rising operating costs and the economic outlook
We anticipated this. The bank has introduced stringent cost-cutting initiatives, particularly around migrating to alternative energy — several of our branches are now fully off-grid, relying on neither diesel nor the national grid, with solar power dedicated to ATMs, security systems and critical lighting.
We’re also introducing electric vehicles into our operations. Since last year, we’ve renegotiated terms with most of our vendors, and the benefits of that haven’t fully come through yet, so we remain optimistic about further improving our cost-to-income ratio this year.
On the global shocks, including the situation involving the US, Israel and Iran, we believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our Q1 numbers already show significant improvement, and we expect that trend to continue.
Has the removal of the Central Bank’s regulatory forbearance affected your non-performing loan ratio?
That policy shift is good for the country overall, as it restores discipline across the industry. For Jaiz Bank specifically, only one customer’s exposure has been affected, and it hasn’t materially impacted our NPL ratio. We’re already in the process of resolving that exposure.
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On branch expansion and pan-African ambitions
Banking globally has been disrupted over the past decade — it’s no longer just about physical branches, and we’ve seen fintechs build strong market positions without any branches at all. Still, for Jaiz Bank, we’ll continue to ensure every strategic business hub in Nigeria has a branch.
We currently operate 55 branches and plan to open 10 more by December, taking us to 65. We’re present in 26 of Nigeria’s states today and want full coverage within the next two years. Beyond that, with this capital raise, we expect to see Jaiz Bank branches across Africa and other parts of the world within the next five years — we intend to grow both locally and globally.
On collateral-free financing for small businesses
SMEs are the engine of our economy and our largest employer of labour, but conventional collateral requirements are often out of reach for them. That’s why we’ve developed a cash-flow-based lending product, currently awaiting regulatory approval, which will assess customers based on actual cash flow rather than collateral.
In place of collateral, customers will provide guarantees and sign Global Standing Instruction (GSI) mandates. Combined with our digital channels, customers will be able to access financing entirely from their homes or offices, without visiting a branch.
On corporate social responsibility
We don’t often publicise this, but it’s good that you’ve asked. We are supporting hospitals across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, particularly in underserved areas where unreliable power affects critical needs such as the storage of medicines and vaccines.
On how the new capital will be deployed in practice
With a smaller capital base, our single obligor limit is constrained, which limits our ability to finance large-ticket transactions.
For example, we currently have a cocoa exporter seeking $100 million in financing, but our present obligor limit can’t support even ₦20 billion of that. Cocoa traders are a segment we intend to serve more aggressively with this new capital, since their transactions are typically dollar-denominated and backed by NXP export documentation.
We’ll also continue strengthening agricultural financing — particularly around food preservation, which ties directly into national food security — and we’re rolling out “Energise”, a new product to finance individuals and businesses transitioning to alternative energy on friendly rates and extended repayment terms.
Sunday Michael Ogwu is a Nigerian journalist and editor of Pinnacle Daily. He is known for his work in business and economic reporting. He has held editorial roles in prominent Nigerian media outlets, where he has focused on economic policy, financial markets, and developmental issues affecting Nigeria and Africa more broadly.