Fresh from its post-recapitalisation phase, Nova Commercial Bank is positioning itself for a decisive shift in Nigeria’s financial services space, with a bold ambition to redefine how credit is extended to small businesses and how everyday banking is experienced.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jude Anele, says the bank is not pursuing size for its own sake, but building a “relationship-driven, well-capitalised institution” designed to close long-standing gaps in SME financing, retail banking access, and structured trade finance.

In this interview, Anele outlines how the bank intends to disrupt traditional lending models by moving away from collateral-heavy credit decisions towards cash-flow intelligence and deeper customer understanding.

By Babajide Komolafe, Economy Editor

QUOTE

We are building a Phygital model where digital channels carry the majority of transaction volume and branches serve as relationship anchors for higher-value interactions.

With the completion of recapitalisation, how would you describe Nova Commercial Bank’s new strategic position within Nigeria’s banking landscape?

Our position is clear: a well-capitalised, relationship-driven mid-tier commercial bank with the advisory depth of a merchant bank and the reach of a commercial institution. We are not chasing size, we are building preference. Our recapitalisation was not a survival exercise; it was the foundation for a deliberate growth agenda. We enter this phase with capital, a commercial licence, a strengthened leadership team, and a strategy built around the customers most commercial banks have underserved SMEs, retail clients, and business corridors.

What specific gaps or opportunities is the bank now better positioned to address post-recapitalisation?

Three gaps, specifically. First, SME credit, particularly in sectors and corridors where collateral-led credit models have excluded creditworthy businesses. Second, retail banking, serving everyday Nigerians through our Phygital model in communities where we already have commercial roots. Third, trade and supply chain finance, an area where our merchant banking heritage gives us structural advantage. These are not generic ambitions. They are specific gaps we have mapped and are building product solutions around.

How will the additional capital be deployed across lending, technology, and expansion priorities?

Three simultaneous tracks. Lending: we are growing our loan book with deliberate focus on SME and commercial credit, structured around cash flow intelligence rather than collateral alone. Technology: our Phygital infrastructure requires continuous investment, our mobile platform, core banking systems, and data analytics capability are all being upgraded. Expansion: we are opening nine additional branches this year. These are not competing priorities, they are complementary. Every branch opening is supported by digital infrastructure; every technology investment improves the quality of our lending decisions.

To what extent will recapitalization shift your risk appetite, particularly in corporate versus retail lending?

Recapitalization expands our risk capacity, it does not change our risk philosophy. We are a relationship bank. That means our risk appetite is guided by the quality of our understanding of the borrower, not just the size of the ticket. In corporate banking, we will deepen existing relationships and selectively grow new ones where our advisory model adds value. In retail, our mass customization approach allows us to assess risk at category level with merchant banking depth — which is more intelligent than a generic retail scoring model. We are not choosing between corporate and retail. We are building a disciplined book in both.

What sectors will you prioritise for credit expansion, and why?

Five sectors, deliberately chosen. Manufacturing, Agro-processing — one of Nigeria’s highest-potential, most underfinanced sectors. Trade and commerce — the traders who move Nigeria’s economy have been chronically underserved by formal banking. Logistics — the invisible infrastructure of the Nigerian economy, with financing needs that standard bank products do not address well. And professional and technology services — a growing sector generating significant economic value with largely intangible assets that require creative credit structuring. Each of these sectors maps to communities where Nova Bank already has established relationships.

How is the bank balancing aggressive growth ambitions with prudent risk management in a volatile macroeconomic environment?

By not treating them as opposites. Our board-level risk management committee sets the risk appetite framework within which management operates. We have a tiered approval authority structure that ensures no single decision-maker carries disproportionate exposure. And our merchant banking heritage has trained us to understand that the most dangerous loan is not the large one — it is the one you do not understand. In a volatile macro environment, the answer is not to stop lending. It is to lend more intelligently — which is what our advisory model is built to do.

How does Nova plan to differentiate itself in an increasingly crowded and competitive banking sector?

On three dimensions that are genuinely hard to replicate. First, advisory intelligence — six years of merchant banking has built an institutional capability for understanding businesses deeply that most commercial banks simply do not have. Second, community presence with institutional rigour — we are entering markets with pre-built relationships and trust, not starting from zero with a branch and a marketing campaign. Third, mass customization — the ability to serve thousands of customers with the depth of understanding that was previously only available to individual merchant banking clients, delivered through technology. These are not marketing positions. They are structural advantages.

Are there plans to expand geographically within Nigeria?

Yes — and we are already executing. We currently operate seven branches and are opening nine additional locations before year-end, which nearly triples our physical footprint in Seven months. The expansion is concentrated where our existing commercial relationships are deepest and where the gap between banking supply and business demand is most acute. Each new branch is a deepening of an existing relationship, not an attempt to enter an unfamiliar market. Beyond that, our Phygital model extends our effective reach far beyond our branch count — any Nigerian with a smartphone can access Nova Bank wherever they are.

How critical is digital transformation to your post-recapitalization strategy?

It is not a strand of the strategy — it is the delivery infrastructure of the entire strategy. Our Phygital model is the architecture through which we serve the full spectrum of Nigerian banking customers: those who want a seamless mobile-first experience and those who need the reassurance of a relationship manager in a branch. We are investing in core banking modernization, mobile platform development, data analytics for credit intelligence, and the digital onboarding infrastructure that will allow us to scale our customer base without proportionally scaling our cost base. The debate between digital-first and branch-led banking is a false binary. We are engineering both into a single coherent experience.

How do you intend to improve cost efficiency while scaling operations?

Through the deliberate architecture of our expansion model. We are not building a high-cost branch network — we are building a Phygital model where digital channels carry the majority of transaction volume and branches serve as relationship anchors for higher-value interactions. That ratio keeps our cost-to-serve per customer significantly lower than a branch-heavy model. We are also leveraging technology to automate routine processes — account opening; as witnessed during the media parley, basic customer resolution, compliance monitoring — which allows our human capital to focus on the advisory and relationship work that actually differentiates us. Sound equipment and shared infrastructure are also being treated as institutional capital investments rather than one-off event costs. Efficiency and quality are not in tension for us.

In what ways will recapitalization enhance customer experience and service delivery?

Directly, in three ways. First, product expansion — a stronger capital base allows us to offer a broader range of products, including longer-tenor credit facilities and more complex trade finance structures, that were previously outside our capacity. Second, technology investment — our Phygital platform improvements are capital-funded, and they directly improve the speed, reliability, and quality of every customer interaction. Third, talent — recapitalization allows us to attract and retain the quality of talent that delivers genuinely differentiated service. But I want to be clear: enhanced customer experience at Nova Commercial Bank is not primarily a function of capital — it is a function of culture. We have built a culture of anticipatory service, where the standard is not responding well to customer problems but identifying and solving them before they arise.

What governance and internal control frameworks have been strengthened to match the bank’s new scale?

Our governance architecture was not built for our previous scale — it was built for the scale we intend to become. Our board committees — covering risk, audit and compliance, finance, nominations, and human resources — operate as active oversight mechanisms, not ceremonial structures. Each is chaired by a non-executive director with specific domain expertise. We have a tiered approval authority framework that defines decision-making boundaries at every level of the organization. And our whistleblowing mechanism is domiciled with an independent third-party firm — entirely insulated from institutional influence. Corporate governance is not a compliance exercise for us. It is the structural conviction on which everything else is built. Any institution that lacks it will eventually fail — regardless of its capital position.

What does Nova Commercial Bank aim to become in the next decade, and what milestones should we watch for?

Africa’s preferred financial solutions provider. That is the vision — and every word in it is intentional. Africa, not just Nigeria — we have a regional ambition that we are not yet ready to announce but are absolutely building toward. Preferred, not largest — we will not chase size at the expense of quality. Financial solutions provider, not just a bank — we intend to remain advisory in our DNA even as we grow. The milestones to watch: the nine branch openings this year. The full deployment of our Phygital platform. The growth of our SME loan book. Our customer satisfaction metrics — which we will publish because we believe transparency on service quality is itself a differentiator. And over five years, a return on equity that reflects the quality of the franchise we have built. Watch those.