Access Leads Europe While UBA Tops Africa: Nigerian Banks Strengthen Global Profits
Nigerian banks are increasingly relying on their foreign operations to boost profitability, with Access Holdings PLC leading in Europe and United Bank for Africa (UBA) topping across the rest of Africa. Access Holdings recorded ₦195.57 billion in pre-tax profit from its European operations, followed by Zenith Bank at ₦72.30 billion and UBA at ₦46.30 billion. GTCO’s UK operations contributed ₦14.86 billion, showing that European subsidiaries are becoming key profit centers for Nigerian banks.
In the Rest-of-Africa markets, UBA’s operations generated ₦388.96 billion in pre-tax profit for the first half of 2025, leading the sector, while GTCO and Access Holdings earned ₦291 billion and ₦242.49 billion respectively. Zenith Bank posted ₦168.25 billion, highlighting the competitive landscape outside Nigeria.
Analysts observe that Access Holdings dominates European earnings, while UBA remains the strongest performer across African operations, reflecting a deliberate strategy of geographic diversification.
This approach allows banks to mitigate domestic economic challenges such as inflation, currency fluctuations, and interest rate pressures, while capitalizing on growth opportunities in international markets.
Historical data reinforces this trend, with Access Holdings’ foreign units contributing 53% of total pre-tax profit in 2024, and UBA’s offshore operations accounting for 69.2% of total group profit.
The increasing contribution of international operations signals a shift in the Nigerian banking model, emphasizing global expansion and strategic diversification.
For investors and stakeholders, these results highlight resilience, strong growth potential, and the ability of top-tier banks to maintain profitability even amid domestic economic uncertainties. Banks are now leveraging International market to enhance profit and also strengthen the country global competitiveness .
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