TAJBank Limited has emerged as the leader in the non-interest banking subsector of the financial sector, as its total assets crossed the N1tn mark to settle at N1.02tn as of the end of the first half of the year.
This was recently highlighted by experts at a recent seminar organised by Leaders Corporate Services under the theme ‘Roles of Non-Interest Banks in SME Financing’.
Non-interest banking in Nigeria is expanding, with players providing ethical banking solutions for customers who are seeking such services.
In a paper presentation at the seminar held in Abuja, an investment expert, Mr. Olabode Akeredolu-Ale, maintained that based on the non-interest banks’ approved financial statements for the half year 2025, TAJBank currently remained the biggest in terms of its total assets.
Akeredolu-Ale, who is a chartered stockbroker, asserted that his recent investment research on the non-interest banks and their financial performances showed that TAJBank, with its total assets rising to N1.02tn in the first half of 2025, up from N953.09bn as of December 2024, which is about N52.91bn higher than the nearest NIB’s assets, now ranked top in the banking subsector.
According to the highlights of TAJBank’s half-year results seen by The PUNCH, the bank’s gross earnings appreciated to N53.75bn from N32.84bn as of June 2024, representing a 64 per cent growth and higher than the nearest NIB’s gross earnings in the period under review.
This is even as he disclosed that for the NIBs’ earnings per share during the half year, TAJBank reported N61.36 kobo earnings per share.
Akeredolu-Ale, who is also a chartered accountant, said, “I am part of this event because of my research interest in non-interest banking and how the players in the subsector in Nigeria can help to leverage their competencies in innovation and ethical banking to support our MSMEs. Today, the MSMEs cannot access DMBs’ loans due to high lending rates and other inclement macroeconomic factors. This is where I think the NIBs have become very crucial to Nigeria’s economic growth.
“Overall, my findings on the NIBs indicated that they are all trying their best with non-interest loans to support entrepreneurs, particularly the MSME owners. I have advised those of them at this seminar to explore the cost-friendly financing options of the NIBs to grow their businesses by opening accounts with the NIBs,” Akeredolu-Ale advised. Another speaker at the event, Benjamin Chukwudi, also commended the NIBs for their “catalytic roles in helping SMEs to access interest-free loans and providing them the needed financial management advisory, which has been helping them in sustaining their operations in the face of the rising cost of doing business in the country.”
