Firstbank of Nigeria

This acquisition of the 104-year-old Union bank by a bank that is merely 2 years old, is one of the most remarkable acquisitions in the Nigerian Banking space.

The bank was licensed as Nigeria’s first merchant bank in 1969. The bank traces its roots to the late 1970s, when it was founded as Societe Generale Bank (Nigeria), by the late Dr. Sterling Bank Plc Is one of the oldest banks in Nigeria was initially incorporated in 1960 as Nigeria Acceptances Limited (NAL). It began operations in Africa in 1949,as the British and French Bank Limited (BFB). Following its merger with Standard Bank of the United Kingdom in 1966, the bank changed its name to Standard Bank of West Africa Limited, and in 1969 it was established locally as Standard Bank of Nigeria Limited in accordance with the Companies Decree of 1968. In 2012, the Bank changed its name again to FirstBank of Nigeria Limited as part of a restructuring resulting in FBN Holdings Plc (“FBN Holdings”), having detached its commercial business from other businesses in the FirstBank Group, in compliance with the new regulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It is also the first digital bank in Africa. Wema Bank launched the first fully digital bank in Nigeria, ALAT By Wema, in May 2017. Wema Bank is the longest surviving indigenous bank in Nigeria. [banks](https://www.withinnigeria.com/piece/2022/11/06/richest-bank-in-nigeria-the-top-7-richest-banks-in-nigeria/) followed suit including the newly acquired union bank of Nigeria PLC. Before the amalgamation of the country, let alone its independence, the country had always run a financial institution, African Banking Corporation, which later handed its operations in Lagos to British Bank of West Africa (now known as First Bank of Nigeria). Earlier in June, one of Nigeria’s oldest banks, Union Bank, was acquired by Titan Trust Bank which commenced operations in October 2019, after the latter completed acquisition of 89.39% majority stake in Union Bank.