The Chairman of the Board of Directors at United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Tony Elumelu, has assured stakeholders that the bank will meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new minimum capital requirement for international commercial banks by the third quarter of 2025, well ahead of the March 2026 deadline.

Speaking at UBA’s 63rd Annual General Meeting held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, Elumelu confirmed the bank’s commitment to fully comply with the CBN directive.

Nairametrics had earlier reported that the apex bank raised the minimum capital base for commercial banks with international licenses to N500 billion and for national banks to N200 billion as part of sweeping financial reforms announced on March 28, 2024.

Reacting to the development, Elumelu said, “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 emphasized that the new capital framework is designed to fortify the banking sector and better align it with the needs of the real economy.

Elumelu explained that UBA had already started its capital-raising efforts, beginning with a rights issue launched 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 said.

He noted that the offering was oversubscribed by N11.6 billion, representing a 4.8% surplus, and confirmed that the entire amount of N251.0 billion has been verified and approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He added, “The final capital raise is expected to be completed in Q3 2025, well ahead of the CBN deadline.”

Elumelu highlighted that proceeds from the fundraising will be invested in digital technologies and business expansion, further strengthening the bank’s 75-year track record of performance.

In a press interview following the meeting, UBA’s Group Managing Director and CEO, Oliver Alawuba, assured shareholders that the bank remains committed to delivering robust dividends.

“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 said.

Alawuba pointed out that UBA has moved away from paying “kobo” dividends.

“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 said.

He also stressed that UBA’s investment in digital banking across its 24-country network would drive future revenues and make even higher dividend payouts sustainable.

Under the CBN’s new capital framework, banks are expected to meet the higher minimums through private placements, rights issues, public offers, mergers and acquisitions, or changes to their license authorization.

Importantly, the minimum capital now only includes paid-up capital and share premium and excludes broader shareholder funds.

UBA’s financial performance in 2024 further strengthens its position.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, the bank recorded a pre-tax profit of N803.7 billion, up 6% from N757.6 billion in 2023.

Post-tax profit rose by 26.14% to N766.5 billion, compared to N607.6 billion the previous year.

This marks the highest annual profit ever recorded by the bank.

Over the past two years alone, UBA has reported cumulative profits of N1.37 trillion, sharply outperforming the N570.4 billion posted over the five-year period leading up to 2023, according to Nairametrics estimates.