Impact Assessment of Bank Consolidation on the Performance of Commercial Banks in Nigeria

This study focuses on an impact assessment of the consolidation exercise on the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria. While prior studies focused on the financial performance of banks (with emphasis on profitability), the main thrust of this study was on how the consolidation exercise had affected different areas of commercial banks in Nigeria other than profitability. Secondary data were sourced from the annual accounts and statistical bulletins of the CBN and SEC respectively for the relevant years. The data obtained were analysed by means of sensitivity analysis, in addition to the correlation and regression analyses. The results obtained show that the consolidation exercise had positive impact on the selected variables (Non Performing Loans, Liquidity Ratio, Bank Credit to Private Sector and Bank Capital To Asset Ratio) for this study. Based on the above findings, we recommend among others that while efforts are made by the CBN to sustain the increased capital base of banks, a very sound corporate governance framework and effective risk management systems must be put in place to check the level of non-performing loans which seem to be predominant in the industry. The quality of bank credit to private sector and their recovery procedures should also be improved upon.