United Bank for Africa (UBA) has successfully raised N178.3 billion through a rights issue, taking its capital base above the N500 billion minimum required for Tier 1 banks with international licenses.
This is according to information released by the bank following the conclusion of its rights issue in September 2025.
The new capital raise builds on a prior N239 billion raised in November 2024, which had previously brought UBA’s capital to N355.2 billion.
What the right issue data is saying
UBA disclosed that it received 6,404 valid acceptances for 3,566,081,624 shares, valued at N178.3 billion during the rights issue, which closed on Friday, 19 September 2025.
Out of the valid applications, 6,399 were standard rights issue applications, and 5 were from traded rights totaling 10,462 shares.
Invalid applications totaled 568,666,066 shares valued at N28.43 billion, bringing the total (valid and invalid) to 4,134,747,690 shares.
Full acceptances came from 6,293 submissions covering 453,578,211 shares, while partial acceptances totaled 106 applications for 135,274,777 shares.
The traded rights accounted for 5 NGX transactions during the acceptance period, with 10,462 shares worth N523,100.
The rights issue was offered at N50 per share for 3,156,869,665 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to shareholders listed on the register as of 16 July 2025.
PAC Registrars and Investor Services Limited, the registrar for the rights issue, will credit CSCS accounts by 7 February 2026 and refund surplus subscription funds by 13 January 2026.
More details about the recapitalization
UBA had earlier raised N239 billion in November 2024, boosting its capital base to N355.2 billion at the time.
With this latest N178 billion raised, UBA has now exceeded the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N500 billion recapitalization requirement for international banks, although an official confirmation is still pending.
This positions UBA among the first banks to meet the new capital rules ahead of the 2026 deadline.
Reaching the N500 billion capital base threshold enhances UBA’s capacity to compete as a Tier 1 bank, fund large-scale projects, and expand across its international footprint.
It also sends a positive signal to the broader financial markets and investors assessing the health of Nigerian banks.
What you should know
According to the Register of Shareholders as at 30 June 2025, no shareholder held more than 5% of the bank’s share capital except:
Heirs Holdings Limited – 2,115,222,826 shares (5.15%)
UBA Nominees – 2,571,584,621 shares (6.27%)
Heirs Holdings Limited is owned by Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu, who also serves as UBA’s Chairman.
In its 9-month unaudited results for 2025, UBA reported a profit of N537.5 billion, up 2.33% from N525 billion in 2024.
Gross earnings also increased by 2.96% to N2.5 trillion in 9M 2025, driven largely by interest income.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalization directive requires international banks to meet a N500 billion minimum capital base by March 2026.
