JPMorgan Chase & Co. has deposited N50 billion ($38 million) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of efforts to secure regulatory approval to establish a merchant bank in Nigeria, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The deposit is among the final regulatory requirements for approval and signals the United States-based financial institution’s readiness to commence operations if its application is successful.
A licence would enable JPMorgan to expand its Nigerian operations beyond its existing representative office in Lagos, where it conducts commercial and investment banking activities and provides asset and wealth management services.
According to the report, the bank hopes to obtain the licence by the end of 2026 or early 2027, subject to securing all necessary regulatory approvals.
On October 8, Dapo Olagunji, Managing Director of JPMorgan West Africa, announced the lender’s plan to establish a merchant banking operation in Nigeria, with activities expected to commence before the end of 2026, pending regulatory clearance.
The proposed entry would deepen JPMorgan’s presence in Africa’s largest economy at a time when Nigeria is seeking to strengthen its financial markets and attract foreign investment.
The development follows JPMorgan’s decision on September 14 to include Nigeria in its new emerging markets index, assigning the country a weighting of 7.4 per cent.
The Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge), which tracks local-currency government bonds across emerging and frontier markets, was launched at the end of September.
Nigeria’s inclusion came nearly 11 years after the country was removed from JPMorgan’s GBI-EM index in 2015.
With a 7.4 per cent weighting, Nigeria ranks among the largest markets represented in the new benchmark, a development that could strengthen the country’s visibility among international investors.
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