Money market
Fitch ratings affirm triple A rating on AfDB, with stable outlook
By Kayode Tokede
Fitch Ratings, the global credit rating agency, has affirmed the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) (www.AfDB.org) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AAA’, with stable outlook.
According to the agency, “the ‘AAA’ rating of the AfDB is driven by extraordinary support it receives from its shareholders, which Fitch Ratings assesses at “AAA”. It judged the Bank’s risk management policies as conservative and excellent in line with ‘AAA’ rated regional peers.
Fitch Ratings assessed “the Bank’s liquidity profile at “AAA”
reflecting an ‘excellent’ liquidity buffer and quality of liquid assets”, while “the bank’s capitalization is judged strong reflecting strong equity-to-assets ratio”.
The rating agency “assumes a 125% in subscribed capital from 2021 as per the Bank’s 7th General Capital Increase plan approved in October 2019″, noting that it “expects all non-regional shareholders will make their first payments before October 2021”.
In April 2020, the Bank’s Board of Directors approved a group-wide up to $10 billion COVID-19 Response Facility to be made available to current borrowers to ease the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Commenting on the development, President of the AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said, “We are delighted with the affirmation of the ‘AAA’ rating of the Bank, with a stable outlook, by Fitch Ratings, despite the global and regional economic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to strengthen our policy relevance to support regional member countries, especially during and after the period of COVID-19, while ensuring that we maintain our prudential ratios with adequate buffers”.
“The Bank will continue to apply strong risk management. We are positive that African countries’ economies will recover as the pandemic subsides and Africa returns to a positive GDP growth trajectory,” Adesina added.
“The strong support of our shareholders will continue to be critical to allow the Bank to continue to play its leading role in supporting development in Africa,” said Swazi Tshabalala, the Vice President for Finance and Chief Finance Officer at the African Development Bank.
The ‘AAA’ rating with a stable outlook of the African Development Bank by Fitch Ratings follows an earlier affirmation of the ‘AAA’ rating of the Bank, with stable outlook, by Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings.
Money market
FBN Holdings’ market capitalisation hits $2.6bn after week of growth


FBN Holdings, one of Nigeria’s oldest banks on Wednesday has achieved a market capitalisation of N1.06 trillion ($2.6 billion) after a week of growth, with the share price rising by around 10 per cent.
The surge began in 2022 after billionaire investor Femi Otedola acquired a majority stake in the bank, triggering investor enthusiasm and a flurry of stock purchases.
At the time of Otedola’s acquisition, FBNH traded at just under N6 per share, meaning the stock price has quadrupled since the announcement.
In its third-quarter financial statements for the period, FBN Holding’s profit after tax (PAT) was N236.4 billion, a 159.2 percent increase from the N91.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2022.
By surpassing the N1 trillion market cap, FBNH joins the exclusive group of Nigerian publicly traded companies known as SWOOTs (Stocks Worth Over One Trillion).
Other members of the SWOOTs group include Dangote Cement, Airtel Africa, MTN, BUA Cement, BUA Foods, Seplat, Zenith Bank, and GTCO.
Money market
W’ Bank commits $5bn to expand electricity access in Africa by 2030


The World Bank has announced plans to allocate $5 billion towards bringing electricity to 100 million people in Africa by 2030.
The announcement was made by the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, during his speech at the mid-term review of the International Development Association’s $93 billion replenishment package in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Banga highlighted the importance of providing support to low-income countries through the bank’s IDA, which offers zero- or low-interest loans.
He cited the initiative to bring electricity to millions of people in Africa as an example of how the funds from IDA will be used.
The World Bank’s plan to bring electricity to 100 million people in Africa by 2030 is a significant step towards improving the quality of life for millions of people on the continent.
The lack of access to electricity has been a major hindrance to economic development in many African countries, and this initiative will help to address this issue.
The allocation of $5 billion towards this project is a clear indication of the World Bank’s commitment to supporting sustainable development in Africa.
Banga said World Bank shareholders, donor countries and philanthropies needed to dig deeper to help IDA deliver better development outcomes to low-income countries.
He said, “The truth is we are pushing the limits of this important concessional resource and no amount of creative financial engineering will compensate for the fact that we need more.”
He also said the World Bank needs to revamp how it evaluates its performance to focus on improved outcomes, not numbers of projects or dollars disbursed.
That means moving towards platforms that can be replicated, such as an IDA-financed mini-grid that delivers electricity to rural communities in Nigeria.
“But this is just one example, I want to see 100,000 – 200,000 – half a million more,” he said, adding that IDA was investing $5 billion to deliver affordable renewable electricity to 100 million Africans before 2030.
The World Bank boss added, “But how can we hope to make even adequate progress while 600 million people in Africa – 36 million of whom live here in Tanzania – still don’t have access to reliable electricity? Put simply: We can’t.”
The current, 20th IDA funding round is due to be completed on June 30, 2025, with the Zanzibar conference aimed at adding to that funding.
Banga used to launch his campaign for the subsequent round of funding to well exceed $93 billion.
The World Bank President in Zanzibar said, “The truth is we are pushing the limits of this important concessional resource and no amount of creative financial engineering will compensate for the fact that we need more funding. This must drive each of us to make the next replenishment of IDA the largest of all time.”
Money market
CBN approves reviewed service charter to enhance business facilitation


By Sodiq Adelakun
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the approval of its reviewed Service Charter by Governor Olayemi Cardoso.
The Service Charter is a requirement of the Business Facilitation Act (BFA) 2022 and aims to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
It also enables the Bank to comply with SERVICOM Nigeria’s directives on improving customer service delivery.
The Charter outlines the Bank’s promises to work with its external customers to meet their service expectations, as well as what the Bank expects from them.
In the foreword, the Governor reiterated the Bank’s “commitment to providing more responsive and citizen-friendly governance through quality service delivery that is efficient, accountable and transparent,” the CBN stated on its website.
The document outlines the Bank’s mandates, vision, mission, and core values. It contains the services the Bank offers through its various departments and the service standards for each service.
The Service Charter also includes a standardised customer complaints form for reporting service failure and a mechanism for addressing service failure in any of the Bank’s services.
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