The Impact of Mergers on Bank Competitiveness in Nigerian Banking Industry

An inclusive merger mechanism became one option for the Nigerian banking industry in response to a Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy to increase the minimum paid-up share capital requirement of Nigerian banks from N2 billion to N25 billion in July 2004, with December 31, 2005 as deadline. More than half of the 89 banks in Nigeria as at July 2004 were engaged in one form of merger. The study objective gives insight into the effectiveness of economic policy reforms in the Nigerian banking industry. This study examines the merger’s impact on bank competitiveness between 2000 and 2009. The period was characterized by financial deregulation, the Global economic crisis, and bank restructuring programs. The panel data ordinary least squares approach is the methodology employed to investigate if there is any significant effect of merger on the bank competitiveness from the pre to the post merger periods, in order to detect whether bank mergers produce any performance gains as well as factors contributing to the competitiveness in the Nigerian banking industry.