Plans to establish a merchant bank in Nigeria are currently underway, according to Dapo Olagunji, Managing Director of J.P Morgan West Africa. Pending final regulatory approval, operations are expected to commence before the end of 2026.
Olagunji announced the expansion on October 8 during the Nigeria–Asia Financial Connectivity Dialogue held in Singapore.
According to an official statement released Thursday, the summit was organized by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with J.P Morgan, the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), and the FMDQ Group.
The proposed institution marks a major expansion of J.P. Morgan’s footprint in Nigeria as the country seeks to deepen its financial markets and attract increased foreign direct investment.
The announcement was made by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso during a series of engagements with financial institutions and market participants in Singapore, ahead of the upcoming IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok.
The move follows J.P Morgan’s decision on September 15 to grant Nigeria a 7.4 percent weighting in its new emerging markets index, the Government Bond Index–Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge).
Launched at the end of September, the benchmark tracks local currency government bonds across frontier markets. The development marks Nigeria’s return to J.P. Morgan’s bond indices nearly 11 years after its removal from the original GBI-EM in 2015.
With its 7.4% weighting, Nigeria will rank among the largest markets represented in the new benchmark, significantly enhancing the visibility of its domestic government debt instruments among global fixed-income investors.
Backstory…
The bank already operates from Lagos, providing financial services to corporations, governments and institutional clients. Its Nigerian history dates back to 1961, when Chase Manhattan Bank opened a branch in Lagos to serve local businesses and individuals. J.P. Morgan’s history in Nigeria.
The latest move also follows renewed engagement between J.P. Morgan and Nigerian authorities. In January 2025, a delegation led by Dapo Olagunji, the bank’s West Africa managing director, met with Wale Edun, who was then the Minister of Finance, as discussions around expanding the bank’s Nigerian operations gained attention. Reports in April 2025 also indicated that the bank was considering converting its Lagos representative office into a more fully operational banking presence.
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