For over a decade, Nigeria’s Tier-1 lenders have crisscrossed the continent, planting corporate flags from Accra to Nairobi. Critics dismissed this pan-African expansion as expensive vanity projects and testamentary monuments to continental empire-building rather than cold, hard shareholder value. However, a stark divergence in 2025 earnings results show that for a select group, the continental bet is now delivering tangible financial gains while for others, the “empire” remains a drag on returns.
For instance, the United Bank for Africa (UB
