Banking hub in SSA: Nigeria rated second-largest investment
Elegbede Abiodun
File: Lagos, Nigeria
Nigeria stands as one of the primary engines for financial services in the region, trailing only South Africa in total fee generation.
In 2025, Nigeria maintained its status as a cornerstone of the West African financial landscape, ranking as the second-largest investment banking market in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This was indicated in the Sub-Saharan Africa Investment Banking Review Full Year 2025 published by LSEG Data & Analytics, which showed that while Nigeria saw its overall fee revenue rise, the year was defined by a stark divergence between a booming debt market and a cooling environment for mergers and equity deals.
Nigeria remains one of the primary engines for financial services in the region, trailing only South Africa in total fee generation.
“An estimated $503.9m worth of investment banking fees were generated in Sub-Saharan Africa during 2025, representing a 13.1 per cent increase from the prior year. South Africa accounted for 51.5 per cent of all Sub-Saharan African fees in 2025, followed by Nigeria (19.4 per cent) and the Ivory Coast (6.9 per cent). Investment banking fees in Nigeria reached $97.9m for the year, which marks an eight per cent increase compared to 2023. This growth contributed to Nigeria’s position as a top-three fee-earner alongside South Africa and Ivory Coast,” indicated part of the report.
While the total volume of equity issuance in Nigeria saw a pullback compared to the previous year, several landmark corporate deals stood out in the regional rankings. The LSEG report revealed that Sub-Saharan African equity and equity-related issuance totalled $5.5bn in 2025, which was a 58 per cent increase from 2024 and the highest level in eight years.
In Nigeria, equity issuance proceeds totalled $690.9m, a figure that represents a 27 per cent decrease compared to the prior year. Despite this decline, Nigerian firms featured prominently in the largest regional deals, such as the $163.7m follow-on offering by Presco Plc in December. Furthermore, United Bank for Africa Plc successfully executed two separate follow-on offerings in April and September 2025, raising a combined total of over $255 m.
The value of Mergers & Acquisitions deals involving Nigerian entities saw a significant contraction in 2025. The value of announced M&A transactions with any sub-Saharan African involvement reached $37.2bn in 2025, a slight 0.8 per cent increase in value compared to the previous year. However, the value of M&A deals involving Nigeria plummeted 76 per cent to reach just $1.3bn. Despite this sharp decline in total deal value, Nigeria remained the fourth most targeted nation for M&A activity in the region. The broader regional activity was led by the Consumer Staples and Energy & Power sectors.
A notable highlight for the year was the performance of local Nigerian financial institutions, which broke into the top tiers of regional league tables. Local Nigerian firms demonstrated significant growth in the regional Equity Capital Markets bookrunner rankings during the year. United Capital PLC secured the tenth spot in the regional table, recording $84.3m in proceeds, which was a massive 678 per cent increase compared to 2024.
CardinalStone Partners Ltd also earned a place on the regional leaderboard, ranking eleventh for the year. These domestic players were part of a competitive field led by global giants such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
