The number of financing statements registered in Nigeria rose by 53.9 percent in the first quarter of 2026 year-on-year, while the value attached to the registrations surged more than sevenfold, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data collated from the National Collateral Registry.
A total of 27,170 financing statements were registered across financial institutions in the first quarter of 2026, up from 17,650 recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Financing statements are records of financing interests registered by creditors against debtors and can be associated with secured financing arrangements in which assets or other interests provide security for credit.
In simple terms, a financing statement is a record showing that a lender has provided financing to a borrower and has registered a claim over the assets securing the financing.
Microfinance banks accounted for the largest number of registrations during the first quarter of 2026, recording 22,977 statements, compared with 16,600 in the first quarter of 2025.
Deposit money banks recorded 2,870 registrations in the first quarter of 2026, up sharply from 272 a year earlier.
Finance houses recorded 566 registrations, compared with 155 in the corresponding period of 2025, while non-bank financial institutions recorded 757, up from 622.
Development finance institutions recorded no registrations in January and February but recorded one in March, compared with one registration during the entire first quarter of 2025.
The value of the financing statements increased far more sharply, rising to N2.55 trillion in the first quarter of 2026 from N350.58 billion a year earlier, a 628.8 percent increase.
The value of registrations was similarly concentrated among a few categories of creditors.