GTCO injects N365.9bn into GTBank to meet CBN’s recapitalisation rule

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), parent company of Guaranty Trust Bank Limited (GTBank), has injected N365.85 billion ($236 million) into its banking subsidiary to comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new recapitalisation directive for lenders with international authorisation.

The fresh capital, announced in a regulatory filing on Friday, was raised through the issuance of nearly 7 billion ordinary shares of GTBank to GTCO via a rights issue. With the move, GTBank’s share capital has surged from N138.2 billion to N504 billion—comfortably above the CBN’s new N500 billion minimum capital requirement for international banks.

The development positions GTBank alongside other tier-1 lenders such as Access Bank and Zenith Bank, which have already secured compliance ahead of the March 2026 deadline.

According to GTCO, the additional equity will be deployed to expand GTBank’s branch network, grow its loan and investment portfolio, strengthen its information technology infrastructure, and seize emerging opportunities in Nigeria and other markets where the bank operates.

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“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,” the group said.

The capital programme, first approved at GTCO’s 2024 Annual General Meeting, was executed in two phases with clearance from regulators. The group continues to maintain full ownership of GTBank following the allotment.

Nigeria’s banking industry has been in the throes of a historic recapitalisation drive since March 2024, when the CBN directed lenders to raise fresh equity to build resilience after severe inflationary shocks and the naira’s steep devaluation eroded capital buffers.

The directive set new minimums: N500 billion for international banks, N200 billion for national banks, and N50 billion for regional banks.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso disclosed in July that at least eight banks had already met the new thresholds, while others are exploring mergers and acquisitions to survive. Analysts warn that lenders unable to recapitalise risk losing licences or being forced into consolidation.

For GTCO, the injection strengthens one of Nigeria’s most profitable financial groups, whose footprint spans Ghana, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom.

The group is betting that its fortified capital base will enable GTBank to compete more aggressively in high-value corporate lending and digital banking across its markets.