Nigeria’s banks face a capital hole of nearly N5 trillion, a shortfall bigger than the federal government’s combined education and health budgets in 2024. Two decades after Charles Soludo forced a brutal cull that left only 25 banks standing, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is again rewriting the rules of survival. On the surface, it looks like a repeat of the 2005 playbook. But the terrain is harsher, the rules tighter, and the stakes far higher. The Soludo template: when shock therapy worked In July 2004, Charles S
Nigeria’s banks face a capital hole of nearly N5 trillion, a shortfall bigger than the federal government’s combined education and health budgets in 2024. Two decades after Charles Soludo forced a brutal cull that left only 25 banks standing, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is again rewriting the rules of survival. On the surface, it looks like a repeat of the 2005 playbook. But the terrain is harsher, the rules tighter, and the stakes far higher. The Soludo template: when shock therapy worked In July 2004, Charles S