Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlooks of nine Nigerian banks and two bank holding companies to Positive from Stable. Their Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) have been affirmed at ‘B’.
The affected issuers are Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, First HoldCo Plc (FHC), First Bank of Nigeria Ltd (FBN), United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), Guaranty Trust Bank Limited (GTB), Fidelity Bank PLC, First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB), Wema Bank PLC and Bank of Industry Limited (BOI). A full list of rating actions is below.
The Outlook revisions to Positive follow a similar action on Nigeria’s ‘B’ Long-Term IDRs on 9 October 2026, which reflects ongoing reform of the policy framework and Fitch’s increased confidence that momentum will not be disrupted by upcoming elections.
The revision of the Outlooks on the Long-Term IDRs of Access Bank, Zenith Bank, FHC, FBN, UBA, GTCO, GTB, Fidelity Bank, FCMB and Wema Bank reflects Fitch’s view that the sovereign’s credit profile and Nigeria’s operating environment may become less of a constraint on the issuers’ standalone creditworthiness.
The revision of the Outlook on the Long-Term IDRs of FHC and FBN is supported by the issuers having restored compliance with the total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) requirement. BOI’s Outlook revision reflects our view that the government’s ability to provide support to the policy bank may improve.
The National Ratings of all the issuers and the Government Support Ratings (GSRs) of the eight commercial banks and two bank holding companies are unaffected.
Key Rating Drivers
Fitch says the Nigeria’s operating environment is improving.
The Nigerian naira has appreciated about 7% in 9M’ 2026 and the CBN continues to build gross international reserves.
Inflation increased at the onset of the Iran conflict but reduced to 14.63% in September, supporting a continued easing of monetary policy.
Fitch forecasts real GDP growth of 4.3% in 2026.
The withdrawal of longstanding regulatory forbearance, primarily relating to the classification of problem loans, resulted in increased impaired loans ratios at end-2025.
However, significant capital raisings to meet new paid-in capital requirements effective from end-1Q26 had cushioned the withdrawal and provide room for loan and business growth.
“The banking sector has proved itself resilient to burdensome regulations, particularly the high cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirement of 45% for commercial banks,” Fitch said.
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