Group, and I am confident that with the strong support of the rest of the management team and board, we will deliver a franchise that will continue to be the pride of Nigeria and Africa within the financial services landscape,” the chief executive, who has told the market that his risk management background means nothing short of sustainable growth, said.At the 12th AGM of FBNHoldings held on 14th November 2024, shareholders approved another N350 billion capital raise action, which the bank said would be executed in a blend of approaches this year.
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Plus, with the previous N150 billion rights issues, FirstBank is expected to exceed the new N500 billion minimum capital requirements well ahead of the 2026 deadline to keep its international licence.
A major speed slowing the pace of the traditional banks today is the natural advantage that digital-first banks like Opay, MoniePoint and others have been cloud-natives.
Sadly, the brick-and-mortar toga poses a legacy constraint for traditional banks. But FirstBank, the first fruit of the conventional banks, has gone ahead with a digital evolution campaign.
Today, the CEO said, over 90 per cent of FirstBank’s customer-induced transactions happen on the digital channels – FirstMobile, FirstOnline, Lit App, *894#, FirstDirect and ATMs, where it has a comparative advantage
.“As the bank implements its cloud strategy, we are focused on building a nimbler, always-on and resilient financial services group that leverages its rich legacy to serve its customers’ current and emerging needs,” Alebiosu believes.Interestingly, 2025 is the take-off of the bank’s 2025 to 2029 strategic planning cycle.
The bank intends to “double down” on its dominant position across all the markets where we operate.
Part of the programme is strategic investments to improve customer experience to make it easier for existing and prospective customers to interact and do business on its offline and digital platform, deploying new technologies and ramping up artificial intelligence deployment to scale up digital operations.
But as it turns out, FirstBank and its sister organisations also have a responsibility to urgently put behind the current distractions to continue consolidating the gains of the ‘decade of miracle’.
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