By Babajide Komolafe

Alert Microfinance Bank has recorded a 20-fold increase in total assets to N50 billion in three years, as rising inflation, naira depreciation and stronger demand for credit reshape Nigeria’s banking landscape.

Speaking in a media interview, Group Chief Executive Officer of Alert Group, Mr. Olanrewaju Kazeem, said the bank’s growth was driven by a deliberate strategy focused on financial inclusion and nationwide expansion following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval of a national microfinance banking licence.

According to him, “The growth that you see in Alert Microfinance Bank and Alert Group as a whole is a deliberate plan to ensure that we are able to deliver quality service and extend our services to as many Nigerians as possible. Today, the Group has total assets of about N120 billion, while Alert Microfinance Bank has about N50 billion, from about N2.5 billion three years ago.”

He added: “The need for us to extend our services to other parts of the country where there is yearning for such services, particularly by improving financial inclusion and supporting the underbanked and unbanked, is what is driving us. We have also seen strong acceptance of the brand, making expansion across Nigeria very compelling.”

On operating challenges, Kazeem said: “The industry is still relatively young and getting quality personnel to execute our plans and strategy remains very challenging. In addition, with the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent, you can imagine the cost of funds we use for business. When you add operating costs, the cost of credit becomes very high.”

He explained that “higher funding costs naturally increase repayment pressure on borrowers, raising default risks. However, through discipline, special skills and close monitoring, we have consistently maintained our default rate below four per cent.”

Kazeem further disclosed that inflation forced the bank to review staff salaries four times last year. “Sometimes you have to go beyond your budget to retain critical staff because of prevailing macroeconomic realities,” he said.

Despite these pressures, he said the reforms have created opportunities. “As prices rise, businesses require more working capital to restock, so demand for credit naturally goes up. Businesses that previously imported goods at exchange rates of N500 or N800 now require far more naira at around N1,300, increasing loan demand.”

He added: “Our deposits have grown by more than 200 per cent annually over the last two years. People are saving more, while our growth strategy is delivering exactly as planned as we prepare for regional expansion across Africa.”

By Peter Egwuatu

The stock market closed higher Week on Week, WoW, with the banking and consumer goods stocks being the toast of investors last week.

The Financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 2.006 billion  shares valued at N99.697 billion traded in 96,171 deals, thus contributing 71.17% and  54.63% to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively. The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 178.863 million shares worth N7.872 billion in 26,637 deals. Third place was the Oil and Gas Industry, with a turnover of 151.237 million shares worth N38.309 billion in 16,879 deals.

Analysts noted that investors returned to fundamentally strong banking, consumer goods and other blue-chip stocks, adding that the market witnessed renewed bargain hunting following recent price corrections, with institutional investors taking advantage of lower entry prices in fundamentally sound stocks. Further analysis of the market last week shows that the Nigerian Exchange market capitalisation, which measures the total value of equities, surged by N613 billion to close at N157.057 trillion from N156.444 trillion the previous week.

The  market capitalisation had the penultimate week rebounded to a bullish note with investors gaining N9.342 trillion from their investment listed on the Exchange.

Similarly, another benchmark performance indicator, NGX All Share Index, ASI, up 0.14% to close at 243,462.13 points from 243,798.76 points the previous week.

Trading in the top three equities, namely First Holdco Plc, FCMB Group Plc and Access Holdings Plc (measured by volume), accounted for 939.402 million shares worth N57.673 billion in 19,051 deals, contributing 33.33% and 31.60% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

According to analysts, investors continued to position ahead of the release of second-quarter and half-year corporate earnings, particularly from the banking sector, where expectations remain upbeat following resilient first-quarter numbers and improved macroeconomic conditions.  

Reacting to market performance and outlook, investors at InvestData Consulting Limited, stated: “Despite the positive outlook, investors are expected to remain cautious around stocks that have recorded substantial gains since the beginning of the year, as profit-taking could periodically interrupt the rally. 

“Going forward, market direction will likely be influenced by the release of second-quarter corporate earnings, developments in the global oil market, movements in fixed-income yields and expectations surrounding monetary policy. Investors are also expected to monitor foreign portfolio flows, exchange rate stability and inflation data for further clues on the sustainability of the current market rally. Should earnings meet or exceed market expectations, the NGX could extend its upward momentum as institutional investors continue rotating into fundamentally strong sectors.”

By Yinka Kolawole

The Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE) has warned that the decline in manufacturing tax revenue in the first quarter of 2026 reflects weakening industrial activity, urging the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement far-reaching reforms to revive the productive sector.

In a policy brief, Chairman of AERE, Dele Oye, acknowledged the Bank of Industry’s (BoI) record N644.9 billion loan disbursement in 2025 but argued that the intervention, though commendable, is inadequate to transform Nigeria’s manufacturing sector. 

The manufacturing sector recorded a 31 per cent year-on-year decline in Company Income Tax (CIT) revenue to N74.48 billion in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1’26) compared to N107.90 billion in the corresponding period of 2025 (Q1’25), and N141.84 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 Q4’25), reflecting the impact of rising production costs and weakening profit margins.

He praised BoI for supporting 1.68 million jobs and financing projects across 14 strategic sectors, describing the bank’s maiden Development Impact Report as a landmark shift from measuring success by loan volumes to assessing development impact.

Oye also commended CBN for policies supporting productive sectors and lauded President Bola Tinubu for placing manufacturing at the centre of the Renewed Hope Agenda and the 2025 Nigeria Industrial Policy. Despite these efforts, he lamented that manufacturers continue to face severe structural constraints, including chronic power shortages, commercial lending rates above 35 per cent, unresolved $2.4 billion foreign exchange forward obligations, rising government domestic borrowing and the lack of affordable long-term financing. 

“The manufacturing sector, which should be the engine of this transformation, is gasping. Q1 2026 has delivered a decline in manufacturing tax revenue. When manufacturers pay less tax, it is because they are producing less, selling less and slowly suffocating,” Oye stated in the report.

He described BoI’s intervention as “a drop of water in a desert of industrial thirst,” noting that Nigeria must create at least four million jobs annually to keep pace with population growth while many factories operate below 50 per cent of installed capacity.

Oye called for accelerated implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Policy, restoration of tax incentives for firms in Free Trade Zones, strengthening of the National Credit Guarantee Company, reduction in fiscal deficits and domestic borrowing, a cap of 15 per cent on lending rates to manufacturing, agriculture and technology, deeper capital market funding and the establishment of industrial clusters with dedicated power supply.