Yemisi Izuora
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has announced a double-digit revenue growth in the first half of 2026.
Meanwhile, rising credit impairment charges linked to its Nigerian operations slowed profit growth as the pan-African lender continued to strengthen asset quality.
The Lomé-based banking group, which operates the largest private banking network across 34 sub-Saharan African countries, generated $1.3 billion in net banking income between January and June, up 15 per cent from a year earlier.
The group posted pre-tax profit of $423 million, compared with $398 million in the first half of 2025, representing 6 per cent year-on-year growth after a 23 per cent increase during the comparable period of 2025, according to Ecofin report.
The gap between revenue growth and profit growth emerged as the key feature of the results. Return on tangible equity declined to 21.1 per cent compared with 27.8 per cent for the full 2025 financial year. Although commercial activity remained strong, the group’s ability to convert revenue into earnings weakened.
The deterioration in asset quality in Nigeria largely explains the widening gap between revenue and earnings growth.
The expiration of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulatory forbearance regime, which had allowed banks to keep weakened loans in their performing portfolios without additional provisioning, forced Ecobank to reclassify legacy exposures, primarily in the oil and gas sector.
The Nigerian subsidiary reported a pre-tax loss of $31 million for 2025 after impairment charges nearly quadrupled to $82 million.
At the group level, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio increased to 9.4% from 6.7%, while expected credit loss reserves reached $1 billion at the end of March, representing 8.1 per cent of the loan portfolio.
Tuesday’s earnings statement said the group continues to strengthen asset quality in Nigeria, where revenues nevertheless increased 23 per cent.
Elsewhere, the group’s regional businesses delivered solid growth. Central, Eastern and Southern Africa recorded 20 per cent revenue growth to $470 million, while Anglophone West Africa increased 16 per cent to $372 million. Meanwhile, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) region, Ecobank’s historical core market, posted 6 per cent growth to $382 million.
The group’s balance sheet also strengthened. Customer deposits increased by $3.1 billion year-on-year to $27 billion, with 85 per cent consisting of low-cost funding. The cost-to-income ratio stood at 48.4 per cent compared with 48.3 per cent for the full 2025 financial year.
The payments business remained the main engine of the transformation strategy led by Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Awori, who took office in 2023.
Payments revenue increased 10 per cent to $156 million, while the value of digital transactions jumped 33 per cent to $78.5 billion.
Awori highlighted the group’s “modern, cloud, API-first, mobile-first” technology architecture, which the bank has developed through its partnership with Google Cloud.
Meanwhile, Ecobank raised $450 million in London through a nature bond that attracted demand worth nearly four times the amount offered. The issuance effectively refinanced an outstanding 8.75 per cent subordinated bond.
The results also follow significant changes in the group’s shareholder structure. In June, the WAEMU Banking Commission approved the entry of Bosquet Investments, the investment vehicle controlled by Cameroonian financier Alain Nkontchou. The transaction increased Bosquet Investments’ stake to at least 24.05 per cent making it Ecobank’s largest shareholder ahead of Qatar National Bank.
Ecobank’s “Growth, Transformation and Returns” strategic plan concludes this year. The group’s success will depend less on sustaining commercial momentum—which now appears well established—than on its ability to resolve its Nigerian credit legacy without undermining the dividend that it reinstated in June