Fidelity Bank Plc’s shares have emerged as Nigeria’s best-performing year-to-date bank share with a 32 percent year-to-date appreciation in value.
This is according to a recent article published by Bloomberg.
Speaking with the platform’s journalist on the assessment, the Managing Director, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, shed light on the 35-year-old institution’s business expansion plans, especially to other African countries, after finalizing the acquisition of Union Bank, UK.
She said, “The strategy is for us to expand our footprint outside Nigeria and be able to compete favorably with our peers. In the next three years, we should be able to be in six countries by doing at least two every year.”
Fidelity is racing to expand and avoid losing out on fees from facilitating trade and corresponding banking roles to larger rivals. Trade within the continent, which stands at more than $350 billion a year, is expected to grow by 52 percent in the next decade, according to the African Trade Policy Center at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Slow economic recovery In Nigeria’s and Africa’s biggest economies, after two recessions in 2016 and 2020, currency devaluations and acute dollar shortages are forcing lenders to look outside to curb their risks and widen opportunities.
Onyeali-Ikpe, who took over the role two years ago, set a target for Fidelity to become one of the country’s top five banks by 2025 in terms of earnings and assets. It is currently the country’s sixth-largest lender, with N4 trillion in assets.
