Nigeria, April 12 -- Ramp up your minimum capital base, or lose your operating license, was a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to all the banks, in a major monetary policy shift announced last month. It was stripped of its natural tremulous nuance by our extant economic realities and the CBN governor, Yemi Cardoso's forewarning at different fora. The most manifest of these overtures was given at the Annual Bankers Dinner in November in 2023.

There are 26 commercial banks in the country operating in three categories - international, national or regional. Each of them will transit from the old minimum share capital base of N25 billion to new thresholds, except the few non-interest banks, with new N20 billion and N10 billio...