We build trust through relationship banking, not transactions —Anele

In a volatile macroeconomic environment, banks that endure are those whose customers can openly discuss challenges before they become defaults, says the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nova Commercial Bank, Mr. Jude Anele. Speaking on the bank’s post-recapitalisation strategy, Anele said the bank is positioning itself as a relationship-driven institution focused on SMEs, retail customers and underserved business corridors. In this interview with CHIMA NWOKOJI, he explains why the bank is prioritising advisory-led banking, disciplined lending and technology-backed expansion. Excerpts:

TO what extent will recapitalisation shift your risk appetite, particularly in corporate versus retail lending?
Recapitalisation expands our risk capacity, but it does not change our risk philosophy. We are a relationship bank, and our risk appetite is guided by the quality of our understanding of the borrower, not just the size of the transaction. In corporate banking, we will deepen existing relationships and selectively grow new ones where our advisory model adds value. In retail banking, our mass-customisation approach allows us to assess risk at category level with merchant banking depth, which is far more intelligent than a generic retail scoring model. We are not choosing between corporate and retail banking. We are building a disciplined loan book across both segments.

What sectors will you prioritise for credit expansion, and why?
We have deliberately identified five sectors — manufacturing, agro-processing, trade and commerce, logistics, and professional and technology services. Agro-processing remains one of Nigeria’s highest-potential yet most underfinanced sectors. Trade and commerce players who drive economic activity have also been underserved by formal banking institutions. Logistics represents the invisible infrastructure of the economy, while professional and technology services continue to generate strong value despite largely intangible assets that require creative credit structuring. Each of these sectors aligns with communities where Nova Bank already has established relationships.

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 but the foundation for a deliberate growth agenda. We are entering this phase with stronger capital, a commercial banking licence, an experienced leadership team and a strategy focused on SMEs, retail clients and underserved business corridors.

What specific gaps or opportunities is the bank now better positioned to address post-recapitalisation?
Three major gaps stand out. First is SME credit, particularly for businesses excluded by collateral-led lending models despite being creditworthy. Second is retail banking, where we intend to serve everyday Nigerians through our Phygital model in communities where we already have commercial roots. Third is trade and supply chain finance, where our merchant banking heritage gives us a structural advantage.

How is the bank preparing to withstand external shocks such as currency volatility, inflation and policy tightening?
We have built resilience through four key disciplines. First is portfolio diversification, which reduces concentration risk across sectors and locations. Second is conservative foreign exchange management. We maintain tightly controlled FX positions and only extend foreign currency loans to borrowers with genuine FX-earning capacity. Third is regular stress testing. Our risk management framework includes scenario analysis against macroeconomic shocks, while our capital buffers are calibrated to absorb those pressures. Fourth — and perhaps most importantly — is relationship depth. In a volatile environment, banks survive when clients are willing to pick up the phone and discuss emerging difficulties honestly rather than conceal them until they become defaults. That level of trust is built through relationship banking, not transactional banking.

How will the additional capital be deployed?
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.

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-recapitalisation 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 recapitalisation 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.

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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 are your expectations for profitability and return on equity over the next three to five years?
We are not disclosing specific financial targets at this stage – those will be shared through the appropriate disclosure channels. What I can tell you is that our profitability model is built on a few clear convictions. Relationship banking generates better asset quality than transactional banking over time – and better asset quality is the foundation of sustainable profitability. Our cost architecture is designed for efficiency at scale. And our sectoral and geographic positioning targets markets with significant unmet demand, which gives us pricing power that a bank competing in already saturated markets does not have. We are building for long-term, sustainable returns — not short-term metrics that compromise the institution’s health.