₦airaland Forum

Wale on X

https://x.com/i/status/2090089111210090906

Twenty years ago, when we listed Oando on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, we were told what would be required of us. Adopt IFRS. Build a board with independent directors who could tell the founder "no". Get on a plane and explain ourselves, quarter after quarter, to people who had never set foot in Lagos. It was uncomfortable. It was also the most valuable thing we ever did to ourselves.

I returned to that experience in London at the Royal African Society's (@royafrisoc) discussion on the next 125 years of mining, oil and gas in Africa, where I was asked what African companies need in order to scale. The answer begins at home. Much of African enterprise started out fractured; family-held, informally governed, structurally invisible to anyone underwriting a twenty-year risk. Global capital hesitates over what it cannot examine. Governance, hence, is more than a compliance exercise. It is the instrument that makes a company legible to the world.

The second half of the answer sits with the world. When European lenders withdrew from African hydrocarbons in pursuit of their own net zero commitments, they did not end demand for African energy. They ended their participation in it. African institutions stepped into that space. Afreximbank is now the largest financier of oil and gas on this continent, with more than twenty-five billion dollars committed.

We have done the harder work of making ourselves investable. What doesn't get financed doesn't get built, and there is a great deal still to build here, for those willing to build it with us.

DeeMain:
Any reason for the choice of the two apart from being penny stocks and anticipating an insurance industry rally? Just want to learn

Those are the reasons

Bigdeal01:
By year end, watch out Access bank numbers in digital transactions. They are slowly competing with Opay and Moniepoint in speed of transaction and settlement. They are in Blenco supermarket chain, Mega Chicken and some other super markets.

This person get access and is in Loco mode

If you don’t claim your dividends, the ‘future of tomorrow’ will:

“… According to him, said the Federal Executive Council also approved a presidential directive that all unclaimed dividends from the Capital Market Trust Fund and the Dormant Account Trust Fund be channelled to NELFUND, to make the fund financially buoyant enough to meet its expanding obligations to Nigerian students …”

https://dailypost.ng/2026/08/19/tinubu-orders-diversion-of-efcc-recovered-funds-to-student-loan-scheme/

Panadee:
If you don’t claim your dividends, the ‘future of tomorrow’ will:

“… According to him, said the Federal Executive Council also approved a presidential directive that all unclaimed dividends from the Capital Market Trust Fund and the Dormant Account Trust Fund be channelled to NELFUND, to make the fund financially buoyant enough to meet its expanding obligations to Nigerian students …”

https://dailypost.ng/2026/08/19/tinubu-orders-diversion-of-efcc-recovered-funds-to-student-loan-scheme/

You can see how this government want to loot other people money. What happens of the owners come out later for claim.How has the dividend money become government Money instead of the companies that generate

Me already calculating 90% of 1360 as my entry price😀😀

Ocallen:
Some people are damn happy.

essentialone:
5.94 Million Naira worth of dead Universal Insurance Plc shares was Bought today by unfortunate Gamblers...

I thought coys which fail to meet the base will be acquired by others

Omoo, this one na another Gbese for people wey hold the stock oh

Raider76:
Wale on X

https://x.com/i/status/2090089111210090906

.......
We have done the harder work of making ourselves investable. What doesn't get financed doesn't get built, and there is a great deal still to build here, for those willing to build it with us.

"Perspire to acquire so we can inquire to refire" type of sh*t.

🤣
Go Wale... Go Wale...😂

toyeoye:
After holding flat for most of the session, ARADEL has now slipped 9.99% to ₦1,374.20 with minutes to close.

Maybe they're trying to make it liquid again by clearing the offers at day's low....
Or, some institutional investors buying.....
Looks more like some big boys picking it.

NSEstudent:
I thought coys which fail to meet the base will be acquired by others

Omoo, this one na another Gbese for people wey hold the stock oh

Too bad 😔
NAICOM is supposed to give them options of merging within stipulated time/additional grace time at least.

N13.6bn Investors funds bite the dust again.

* Universal spokesperson said they've appealed the decision anyway.....
Hopefully it works in their favour.... 🙏

https://nairametrics.com/2026/08/19/naicom-revokes-universal-insurance-licence-over-failure-to-meet-recapitalisation-requirement/

Tomorrow, Thursday, August 20, 2026, has been declared a work-free public holiday by regional governments including Lagos State, Ogun State, and Oyo State to celebrate Isese Day, honoring indigenous Yoruba cultural heritage and traditional religion.

Emzor’s ₦26.7bn Funding Move Could Reshape Its Manufacturing Ambitions

https://naijaticker.com/news/naijaticker/emzors-n26-7bn-funding-move-could-reshape-its-manufacturing-ambitions?utm_source=nairaland&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=thread

yMcy56:
Geregu Power pays N6 billion owed investors on N40.09 billion bond

https://nairametrics.com/2026/08/19/breaking-geregu-power-pays-n6-billion-owed-investors-on-n40-09-billion-bond/

Good.
Should be internally avoidable in the first place.

New CEO KPI

The human cost of the NAICOM recapitalisation exercise. While NAICOM set the rules, we should blame *boardroom indecision* for what happens next.

*1,500+ INSURANCE JOBS LOST*

7 legacy insurers failed to recapitalise in time, and are now winding down. That’s pushed *over 1,500 core staff* into the labour market.

*BREAKDOWN OF AFFECTED STAFF*
1. *African Alliance Insurance Plc*: ∼550 employees.
2. *Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC)*: ∼350 employees
3. *Staco Insurance Plc*: ∼150 - 240 employees
4. *Universal Insurance Plc*: ∼135 - 163 employees
5. *Goldlink Insurance Plc*: ∼105 - 150 employees
6. *NICON Insurance Plc*: ∼50 - 100+ employees
7. *Royal Exchange Prudential Life Plc*: ∼20 - 50 specialist employees.

Thousands of *tied agents, brokers, and service providers* are affected too.

*WHO IS TO BE BLAMED*
1. *Boardroom inertia*: Delayed capital injection, failed M&A talks, poor capital allocation.
2. *Missed the window*: Didn’t inject equity or restructure early enough during the recapitalisation period
3. *Loss of premium income*: NCRIB directed brokers to stop doing business with non-compliant firms. That cut off cashflow, so boards couldn’t even pay salaries.

*REGULATOR'S SIDE*
NAICOM’s position is that "weeding out weak operators is essential for a healthy financial system" and policyholder protection. The new NIIRA 2025 capital thresholds were meant to make insurers stronger.

48 insurers + 2 reinsurers met the July 31, 2026 deadline and raised ~N720B. The 7 above didn’t.

*THE BIGGER PICTURE*
This is the painful part of financial sector cleanup.
- *Short term*: Job losses, stranded policyholders, and claims uncertainty
- *Long term*: A stronger, better capitalized insurance sector that can actually pay claims and absorb risk.

For Universal Insurance specifically, this matches the licence revoked Aug 14, receiver appointed, and now we see ∼135-163 staff affected there.

It’s a reminder that regulatory deadlines are real, and board decisions have direct consequences for workers.

essentialone:
The human cost of the NAICOM recapitalisation exercise. While NAICOM set the rules, we should blame *boardroom indecision* for what happens next.

*1,500+ INSURANCE JOBS LOST*

7 legacy insurers failed to recapitalise in time, and are now winding down. That’s pushed *over 1,500 core staff* into the labour market.

*BREAKDOWN OF AFFECTED STAFF*
1. *African Alliance Insurance Plc*: ∼550 employees.
2. *Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC)*: ∼350 employees
3. *Staco Insurance Plc*: ∼150 - 240 employees
4. *Universal Insurance Plc*: ∼135 - 163 employees
5. *Goldlink Insurance Plc*: ∼105 - 150 employees
6. *NICON Insurance Plc*: ∼50 - 100+ employees
7. *Royal Exchange Prudential Life Plc*: ∼20 - 50 specialist employees.

Thousands of *tied agents, brokers, and service providers* are affected too.

*WHO IS TO BE BLAMED*
1. *Boardroom inertia*: Delayed capital injection, failed M&A talks, poor capital allocation.
2. *Missed the window*: Didn’t inject equity or restructure early enough during the recapitalisation period
3. *Loss of premium income*: NCRIB directed brokers to stop doing business with non-compliant firms. That cut off cashflow, so boards couldn’t even pay salaries.

*REGULATOR'S SIDE*
NAICOM’s position is that "weeding out weak operators is essential for a healthy financial system" and policyholder protection. The new NIIRA 2025 capital thresholds were meant to make insurers stronger.

48 insurers + 2 reinsurers met the July 31, 2026 deadline and raised ~N720B. The 7 above didn’t.

*THE BIGGER PICTURE*
This is the painful part of financial sector cleanup.
- *Short term*: Job losses, stranded policyholders, and claims uncertainty
- *Long term*: A stronger, better capitalized insurance sector that can actually pay claims and absorb risk.

For Universal Insurance specifically, this matches the licence revoked Aug 14, receiver appointed, and now we see ∼135-163 staff affected there.

It’s a reminder that regulatory deadlines are real, and board decisions have direct consequences for workers.

LASASCO no dey dia? Megawealth01

Zagee:
"Perspire to acquire so we can inquire to refire" type of sh*t.

🤣
Go Wale... Go Wale...😂

That guy uses data boys.... investors here mikeapollo and co need to storm that page

londonerr:
LASASCO no dey dia? Megawealth01

Lasaco Assurance Plc survived. Next is for them to now show workings and prove that those who trusted them enough to pour in Billions of Naira to rescue them at the last minute, were actually Investors and not just speculative Gamblers.

A few stocks on my radar in today's trading session on the NGX

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wMDpyy6JNQ7H6X0jrDRjs?si=ixour8uXSLKkLkkJUagh7w

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3T2yib8zOd1uaw2a8uzQ1k?si=Qd-fd8xEQeeBLxWVWyOJsg

essentialone:
Lasaco Assurance Plc survived. Next is for them to now show workings and prove that those who trusted them enough to pour in Billions of Naira to rescue them at the last minute, were actually Investors and not just speculative Gamblers.

If you lived in Lagos and saw the insurance brokers in their pain... You wouldn't invest a farthing in any insurance company... How much is that sterling bank owing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_EdxGxYk4A

There's a strange happening on the ngx that I noticed... Performance is not translating into shareholders involvement or appreciation. It seems the ngx is fundamentally opaque and what influences stock prices are beyond normal fundamentals or normal investor activities....

NGX na jijo stock exchange.

londonerr:
There's a strange happening on the ngx that I noticed... Performance is not translating into shareholders involvement or appreciation. It seems the ngx is fundamentally opaque and what influences stock prices are beyond normal fundamentals or normal investor activities....

londonerr:
There's a strange happening on the ngx that I noticed... Performance is not translating into shareholders involvement or appreciation. It seems the ngx is fundamentally opaque and what influences stock prices are beyond normal fundamentals or normal investor activities....

Na today?

Bros, shine ya eyes.

After Naijabet na NGXbet.

That does not discount the fact that the day you have access to info that can give you money, grab the opportunity and wait for the next good day.

Other than that......

This is not encouraging. A stock market isnt betting.

ppogba:
Na today?

Bros, shine ya eyes.

After Naijabet na NGXbet.

That does not discount the fact that the day you have access to info that can give you money, grab the opportunity and wait for the next good day.

Other than that......

essentialone:
5.94 Million Naira worth of dead Universal Insurance Plc shares was Bought today by unfortunate Gamblers...

Monkey hunters have been hunted by Monkeys.

Oasisblue:
This is not encouraging. A stock market isnt betting.

It is not encouraging, agreed.

It isn't betting, debatable.

There are companies whose shares are still be actively traded that are almost close to comatose.

My position is debatable too but the most important thing is to deal in shares without sentiments in whatever guise.

…OPay’s Growth Sharpens Questions Over Access Capital Allocation as Valuation Lags

Access Holdings Plc’s expansion across Africa and beyond is facing question marks from investors as the lender’s asset growth and cross-border ambitions have yet to translate into a valuation comparable with faster-growing digital-finance rivals such as OPay Ltd.

Access Bank Chief Executive Officer Roosevelt Ogbonna said in July 2024 that the group had invested about $1.2 billion in its African and international banking subsidiaries.

The spending was part of a broader strategy to build a continent-wide bank, with the lender targeting trade, payments and corporate-banking flows across African markets and beyond.

Access rapid push abroad, led to the snapping up of assets from Standard Chartered Plc, Atlas Mara Ltd., and KCB Group Plc, among others, to counter naira weakness and non-performing loans.

The question now is whether the investment has spread Access too thin just as fintechs have intensified their hold on Nigeria’s mass-market payments, transfers, merchant acquisition and consumer-finance businesses.

“We are chasing the money,” Ogbonna said during Access Holdings’ rights-issue presentation at the Nigerian Exchange in 2024, describing southern and eastern Africa as more profitable banking markets than parts of West Africa.

He said Access had shifted from an investment phase into a period of consolidation after years of acquisitions, expansion and technology spending.

Scale vs. Market Value

Access remains Nigeria’s largest bank by assets, but the market is placing a far lower value on the group than on OPay’s prospective $4 billion IPO valuation.

At ₦1.46 trillion, Access’s market capitalization is roughly one-quarter of OPay’s proposed valuation.

That disparity does not make the two businesses directly comparable. Banks carry far larger balance sheets, tighter regulation, credit risk and capital requirements, while fintech valuations are often driven by growth expectations, customer acquisition and payment volumes.

Still, the contrast reinforces investor concern that Access’s rapid asset expansion has not yet produced sufficiently strong returns on shareholder capital. Moreover OPAY is just 8 years old in Nigeria and its growth has coincided with the period that Access went chasing the elusive Golden goose overseas.

OPay’s Growth Spurt

OPay reported 2025 revenue of $536.25 million, up 161% from a year earlier, and net income of $72.47 million (₦101.45 billion) compared with a $50.98 million loss in 2024, according to the latest figures seen by MoneyCentral ahead of its IPO. Opay’s 2025 profit was larger than that of Sterling Bank which reported Profit after tax of ₦76.3 billion in 2025.

Gross transaction value rose 115% to $358 billion, lending increased 285% to $938.3 million, and monthly active users grew 57% to 39.3 million.

The numbers highlight how fintech platforms are monetizing the retail market through high-frequency transactions, merchant payments, wallet balances, credit and digital distribution.

For Access, which acquired Diamond Bank in 2019 in a transaction that significantly expanded its Nigerian retail footprint, OPay’s scale raises questions about whether the group is extracting enough value from its domestic customer base.

Access has argued that its strategy is not centered only on Nigeria. Ogbonna said the lender had built a presence in 15 African countries, alongside operations in the UK, France and the UAE, and was pursuing a globally connected African banking platform. He said the bank had about 60 million customers, making it one of Africa’s largest retail banking franchises by customer count.

Access Returns Under Pressure

Access Holdings reported full-year 2025 profit after tax of ₦743 billion, a 15.6% increase from ₦642 billion a year earlier. Interest income rose 5.4% to ₦3.27 trillion, while net fee income gained 40.9% to ₦585 billion.

The headline profit growth masked balance-sheet pressure. Loan impairment charges increased 209% to ₦287.3 billion, while impairment on other financial assets climbed 463% to ₦258.8 billion. Total comprehensive income fell to ₦459 billion from ₦1.01 trillion, weighed down by a ₦272 billion foreign-currency translation loss and a ₦137 billion fair-value loss on debt securities.

Access’s 0.37-times book-value valuation is the clearest market signal of investor caution. Such a discount can reflect concern about future earnings quality, rising credit costs, capital demands, exposure to foreign-currency volatility and uncertainty over whether overseas expansion will deliver returns above the group’s cost of equity.

Capital Allocation Debate

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Access Holdings’ chairman, told investors during the 2024 rights-issue event that companies eventually need to consolidate and “sweat the assets” they have built. That challenge has become more urgent as the group balances regulatory capital needs with shareholder demands for better returns.

Access’s expansion has increased its geographic reach, diversification and potential access to higher-growth African markets. But it has also required substantial capital, added regulatory complexity and exposed the group to currency translation effects, varying credit cycles and execution risks across multiple jurisdictions.

It has also led to delays in filing quarterly financial results leading to the inability of investors to get a timely snapshot of its operations and leading to a sense of opacity and lack of clarity about its earnings outlook.

The central issue is not whether Access should have built an African or international platform, as its cross-border franchise provides strategic value in trade finance, remittances, corporate banking and regional payments.

The issue is whether the group can now convert scale into stronger returns on assets and equity, while defending Nigeria’s retail-banking franchise against digitally native competitors.

Opay as the New Bride as old Banking Assumptions Fall Apart

Opay has become the new banking bride as investors including established banks seek a piece of the fast growing fintech ahead of its IPO.

Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s largest lender by assets and parent company of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, is in early-stage negotiations to acquire a equity stake in Nigeria-focused digital payments platform OPay Digital Services Ltd.

The strategic transaction comes as OPay prepares for a New York initial public offering (IPO) that could value the fintech firm at $4.0 billion—double the $2.0 billion valuation achieved during its Series C funding round in 2021.

OPay has retained Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as lead underwriters for the planned US listing.

Nigerian lenders like Access Bank and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) pushed to transform into a Holding Company (HoldCo) model thinking that growth will come from varied non-bank subsidiaries such as Pensions, Asset management and Payments.

So far the lesson has however been that core retail banking and using technology to crack consumer lending like the fintech’s (Opay, Moniepoint) have done has been far more of a growth driver.

What Investors Will Watch

The next phase for Access is less about acquiring new assets and more about proving it can extract higher returns from the ones it already controls. OPay’s rapid move from loss to profitability shows the value investors place on scalable retail payments and digital distribution.

For Access, the challenge is to turn its larger customer base, banking license, deposit franchise and regional network into a similarly compelling shareholder proposition.

yMcy56:
Maybe they're trying to make it liquid again by clearing the offers at day's low....
Or, some institutional investors buying.....
Looks more like some big boys picking it.

makes sense!