Bank dominance on NGX reflects structural economic problems — Experts
The dominance of banks among Nigeria's most valuable and best-performing listed companies is a sign of deeper structural weaknesses in the economy rather than evidence of economic strength. The post Bank dominance on NGX reflects structural economic problems — Experts appeared first on Nairametrics .
Business leaders Oluwatobi Joshua Ajayi and Olukayode Olusanya have warned that the dominance of banks in Nigeria's top-listed companies signals underlying economic issues. The duo made their remarks during a recent episode of the Drinks and Mics podcast. Ajayi, CEO of Nord Automobile Limited, believes the economy's structure is to blame, arguing that sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, and real estate should be the leading drivers of economic value, not banks.
Olusanya, founder of Oak Holdings, echoed these views, suggesting that Nigeria needs to reconsider how capital flows through the economy. They point to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Banking Index, which surged by 67.96% year-to-date as of September 14, outpacing the broader NGX All-Share Index's 56.35% gain during the same period.
This rally boosted the combined market capitalization of 12 tracked banks from N16.44 trillion at the end of December 2025 to N27.61 trillion by September 14, 2026, a N11.17 trillion increase in less than nine months. Despite this impressive performance, the leaders caution that many of these banks trade at modest valuations relative to their peers in African markets.
Their main concern is that the banking sector's structure favors short-term commercial activities over long-term productive investments, which hinders sectors requiring patient capital and longer investment horizons.
Written by urgent.news from Nairametrics's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
