How Wema Bank Closed the Year by Redefining Trust, Innovation

As 2025 draws to a close, Wema Bank’s 80-year journey stands as reassurance for prospects, partners, and stakeholders alike. It signals an institution that understands where it has come from, why it exists, and where it is going, writes Kyode Tokede

As the year draws to a close, certain milestones ask more of institutions than applause. They demand pause. They require honesty. They invite a reckoning with the past and a clear-eyed commitment to the future. For Wema Bank, turning 80 in 2025 has not simply been about marking longevity. It has been about reaffirming relevance in a fast-moving world, responsibility in a fragile economy, and purpose in an industry where trust remains the ultimate currency. As the Year of 80 comes to an end, what stands out is not only how far the Bank has come, but how deliberately it has chosen to move forward.

Eight decades in banking is not an accident of time. It is a product of discipline, judgement, and the ability to evolve without losing one’s core. Many institutions are born strong but fade when the environment changes. Others survive but stagnate, weighed down by outdated models and shrinking relevance. Wema Bank belongs to a rarer category. It is an institution that has endured by learning, adapting, and consistently aligning its growth with the realities of the moment. In doing so, it has remained present across generations of customers, businesses, and communities, earning trust not through rhetoric, but through action.

Founded in 1945 as Agbonmagbe Bank Limited, Wema Bank emerged at a defining moment in Nigeria’s economic history, when indigenous participation in formal banking was limited and access to finance was far from inclusive. The Bank’s founding purpose was both practical and visionary: to enable Nigerians to participate meaningfully in the economy, to provide access where barriers existed, and to support enterprise at a time when opportunity was unevenly distributed. That founding ethos would prove resilient, tested repeatedly by national and global shifts over the decades that followed.

From the era of mushroom banking in the 1950s, through civil unrest, currency reforms, and structural adjustments, Wema Bank learned early that survival required more than ambition. It required prudence. It required governance. It required a willingness to make difficult choices in the interest of long-term stability. The consolidation period of the mid-2000s would become another defining chapter, reshaping Nigeria’s banking landscape and forcing institutions to confront new capital realities. Wema Bank emerged from that period leaner, focused, and resolute, ultimately regaining its national banking licence in 2015. That moment was not just regulatory; it was symbolic. It marked a return to national relevance, renewed ambition, and a readiness to engage a broader market with clarity of purpose.

What followed was not a retreat into tradition, but a decisive embrace of the future. As banking began its global shift toward digital-first models, Wema Bank once again chose evolution over inertia. The launch of ALAT in 2017 did more than introduce Africa’s first fully digital bank; it reframed expectations. It demonstrated that heritage institutions could lead innovation, not trail it. By simplifying access, reducing friction, and prioritising user experience, ALAT became a signal of intent: that Wema Bank understood the modern customer and was willing to build for them.

That spirit of innovation did not stop at convenience. It extended into inclusion, literacy, and ecosystem-building. ALAT Xplore reflected an understanding that financial empowerment must start early, equipping young Nigerians with tools to build healthy money habits in a digital age. CoopHub addressed the structural challenges within cooperative societies, introducing transparency and efficiency where manual processes once limited growth. These were not abstract ideas. They were practical solutions designed around real needs, reinforcing the Bank’s reputation for innovation with purpose.

As the Year of 80 unfolded, it also became clear that Wema Bank’s commitment to empowerment remained central to its strategy. Through Sara by Wema, the Bank continued to support women across economic levels, providing access to finance, markets, capacity-building, and wellness initiatives at a time when resilience mattered more than ever. These interventions were not framed as charity, but as investment in economic participation, recognising that women-led businesses are essential to sustainable growth.

Youth empowerment followed the same logic. Programmes such as Hackaholics, the FGN-ALAT Digital Skillnovation Programme, and the NYSC-ALAT Accelerator underscored the Bank’s belief that the future of Nigeria’s economy depends on skills, innovation, and opportunity. As the year closed, these initiatives stood as evidence of long-term thinking: preparing young people not just to participate in the economy, but to shape it.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, the Bank’s 80th year reinforced a promise that has endured across decades. From financing to advisory support, from digital tools to market access, Wema Bank has continued to position itself as a growth partner rather than a transactional lender. Platforms like ALAT for Business and ALATPay, combined with training and advisory programmes, reflect a holistic approach to enterprise development. The scale of investment, measured in hundreds of billions of naira in loans, grants, and capacity-building, speaks to consistency rather than coincidence.

As the year ended, performance reinforced narrative. Strong growth in profitability, assets, deposits, and shareholder value validated the Bank’s strategy. Improved credit ratings, successful capital raises, and recognition as one of Nigeria’s best workplaces further strengthened confidence in its governance, culture, and leadership. These are not isolated indicators. They are the result of deliberate alignment between ambition and execution.

What ultimately gives meaning to Wema Bank’s 80th anniversary is coherence. The story holds together. Innovation is not detached from responsibility. Growth is not separated from inclusion. Heritage does not inhibit progress. Instead, the Bank has demonstrated that longevity, when paired with clarity and adaptability, can be a strategic advantage rather than a constraint.

Wema at 80 is not a conclusion. It is a handover between eras. A bridge between legacy and possibility. And as the year ends, the message is clear: the future is being shaped by an institution grounded enough to endure, and bold enough to evolve.

QUOTE

“Eight decades in banking is not an accident of time. It is a product of discipline, judgement, and the ability to evolve without losing one’s core. Many institutions are born strong but fade when the environment changes. Others survive but stagnate, weighed down by outdated models and shrinking relevance. Wema Bank belongs to a rarer category. It is an institution that has endured by learning, adapting, and consistently aligning its growth with the realities of the moment. In doing so, it has remained present across generations of customers, businesses, and communities, earning trust not through rhetoric, but through action.”