Nigeria Beats South Africa To Become Africa’s Largest Banking Market by Customers

• Nigeria has emerged as Africa's largest banking market by customer numbers, driven by digital banking and financial inclusion
• Access Bank leads the continent with about 60 million customers, ahead of UBA and OPay at 45 million each
• Despite their huge customer bases, no Nigerian bank appears in Africa's top 10 by total assets

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Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of experience in business journalism, with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.

Nigeria has secured its position as Africa's leading banking market by customer numbers, with its lenders collectively outpacing rivals across the continent in retail reach.

Data drawn from banks' latest financial reports and the 2025 African Business Top 100 African Banks ranking show that Nigerian institutions have built the continent's deepest retail customer base through digital expansion and aggressive financial inclusion drives.

Banks With the Largest Customer Base in Africa

Access Bank tops the list with roughly 60 million customers across Africa. United Bank for Africa (UBA) and digital financial services platform OPay both follow with about 45 million customers each, BusinessDay reports.

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FirstBank serves approximately 43 million customers, while PalmPay has grown its user base to around 40 million.

Zenith Bank reported about 36.7 million customers, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) rounds out the group with approximately 32.8 million.

Despite commanding the continent's largest retail audiences, no Nigerian lender appears among Africa's top 10 banks when ranked by total assets.

South African and North African institutions, including Standard Bank Group, FirstRand, National Bank of Egypt, Absa and Nedbank dominate that list.

The contrast is stark. South Africa's Standard Bank serves roughly 20 million customers yet controls assets worth more than $200 billion, a balance sheet that dwarfs those of Nigerian banks with far bigger customer bases.

South Africa leads

The World Bank reported that private sector credit in Nigeria stood at 12.9% of GDP in 2024, compared with a Sub-Saharan Africa average of 20.1%, underscoring the relative shallowness of the Nigerian financial system despite its size in customer terms.

Economists point to several factors widening the gap: lower household wealth, weaker institutional savings, limited long-term deposits and the depreciation of the naira, which has reduced the dollar value of Nigerian banks' balance sheets even as they grow in local currency terms.

Analysts believe that ongoing bank recapitalisation efforts, deeper financial inclusion and rising household incomes could improve the standing of Nigerian lenders in asset-based rankings in the years ahead.

CBN approves as another bank begins operation in Nigeria

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Bank78 MFB has officially commenced operations as a private digital lender in Nigeria.

The bank stated that although it is inspired by private-banking culture and mindset, it is deliberately designed for the mass-affluent everyday Nigerian, offering a secure and premium digital banking experience.

In a statement announcing the commencement of operations, the bank said it aims to bridge the gap between fast-growing fintech firms and traditional legacy banks.