First Abu Dhabi Bank Plans Nigeria Entry with Lagos Office
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has announced plans to establish a representative office in Lagos, marking its first formal entry into the sub-Saharan African market. Martin Tricaud, FAB’s Group Head of Wholesale Banking, disclosed the move on February 2, 2026, during the Investopia Africa conference held in Lagos. The expansion is part of the bank’s broader strategy to bridge a geographical gap in its footprint, which currently spans 21 countries across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
The decision to establish a presence in Nigeria follows extensive market research and a growing portfolio of investments within the country’s infrastructure and energy sectors. FAB recently collaborated with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to provide a $1.126 billion financing facility for Phase 1, Section 2 of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway.
This project, which connects the Lekki economic corridor to the rest of the country, utilized a unique credit insurance wrapper from the Islamic Development Bank to manage sovereign risk, a structure that analysts suggest may serve as a blueprint for future Gulf investments in the region.
The entry of FAB aligns with the recently signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Nigeria and the UAE. Finalized in January 2026 during high-level talks in Abu Dhabi, the agreement eliminates tariffs on over 7,000 Nigerian product lines and aims to significantly increase bilateral non-oil trade, which reached $3.1 billion in the first nine months of 2025. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has emphasized that the partnership is a cornerstone of Nigeria’s strategy to attract credible global capital to support its transition toward a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
From a regulatory perspective, FAB’s presence as a representative office means it will focus on market research and client liaison rather than retail activities like accepting deposits or providing local loans. Under Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines, representative offices of foreign banks are restricted from revenue-generating activities within Nigeria but serve as critical conduits for facilitating foreign direct investment and providing information on the parent bank’s global products.
This move comes as the Nigerian banking sector undergoes a major recapitalization exercise, with a March 31, 2026, deadline for domestic banks to meet new minimum capital requirements ranging from N50 billion to N500 billion.
Historically, FAB’s exposure to Nigeria has been concentrated in the energy sector, leveraging the UAE’s expertise in both conventional and renewable power.
Tricaud noted that while energy remains a natural entry point, the bank is increasingly looking at large-scale infrastructure projects. The $626 million underwritten by FAB for the coastal road project highlights its capacity to mobilize international capital through syndication with partners like the Islamic Development Bank, signaling that Nigeria remains an attractive destination for high-growth infrastructure financing despite broader macroeconomic headwinds.
The bank’s expansion is also underpinned by Africa’s demographic trajectory. With a regional population projected to reach 1.8 billion in the coming decades, FAB views Lagos as a strategic hub for its sub-Saharan operations. Government officials, including the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, have described the bank’s entry as a “vote of confidence” in Nigeria’s ongoing fiscal and monetary reforms, which have included the unification of the exchange rate and the introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) to improve market transparency.
The representative office is expected to open in the coming weeks, providing FAB with a direct platform to monitor its current investments and identify new opportunities in sectors prioritized under the Renewed Hope Agenda, such as logistics and climate-smart infrastructure.
