The United Bank for Africa (UBA) has become the latest lender to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) revised minimum capital requirement for banks with international operations, following the completion of its N157.83 billion rights issue. The bank’s share capital now exceeds the N500 billion threshold set by the regulator.

As of its Interim Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended 30 September 2025, UBA’s combined share capital (N20.52 billion) and share premium (N329.56 billion) stood at N350.08 billion. The additional proceeds from the rights issue have propelled the bank well above the required capital level.

Under the new CBN guidelines, commercial banks with international authorisation must maintain a minimum capital of N500 billion, while those with national and regional authorisations are required to have N200 billion and N50 billion, respectively. Merchant banks must maintain N50 billion, and non-interest banks require N20 billion for national and N10 billion for regional authorisations.

UBA’s rights issue, which closed in September 2025, recorded a subscription rate of 113 percent. The bank offered approximately 3.16 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N50 per share, raising a total of N157.84 billion through the allotment.

According to the official statement, at the close of the acceptance list on 19 September 2025, a total of 6,404 acceptances were received for 4.13 billion ordinary shares valued at N206.74 billion. Following final adjustments, the issue was valued at N157.84 billion for 3.16 billion shares.

The breakdown of participation revealed that 6,293 shareholders accepted their provisional allotments in full, while 106 opted for partial acceptance. Investors requested an additional 2.98 billion shares, of which 2.57 billion were ultimately allotted. A single large-scale application for over 100 million shares accounted for 78.46 percent of the total value, contributing N123.85 billion to the raise.

Despite initial oversubscription, the bank achieved a final allotment of 100 percent after a major shareholder scaled down its request by 409.21 million shares, valued at roughly N20.46 billion. Approximately N28.43 billion in applications were deemed invalid during processing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared the basis of allotment. Under the guidance of the lead and joint issuing houses, UBA has outlined the timeline for the finalisation of the transaction: surplus subscription funds will be returned to investors by 13 January 2026, while allotted shares will be credited to CSCS accounts by 16 January 2026.

The rights issue followed a ratio of one new ordinary share for every 13 held as of the qualification date of 16 July 2025.

Since the commencement of the recapitalisation process in April 2024, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso noted that 16 banks have met the new minimum capital requirement, while 27 others have accessed the market for additional funds as of November 2025.

The apex bank outlined three options for banks to strengthen their capital base: injection of fresh equity through private placements, rights issues, or offers for subscription; mergers and acquisitions; and licence upgrades or downgrades. Only paid-up capital and share premium are recognised for compliance, while Additional Tier 1 Capital is excluded from meeting the requirement.