United Capital, the Nigerian financial services group led by veteran investment banker Peter Ashade, has secured operational licenses in Ethiopia and Rwanda. The expansion makes the Lagos-based investment bank the first foreign institution permitted to handle investment banking services in Ethiopia, one of Africa’s most populous and tightly regulated economies.

The expansion into East Africa follows a year of expansion across French-speaking West Africa. In May 2025, the firm established United Capital Asset Management West Africa Limited in Côte d’Ivoire. Over the subsequent 12 months, the company broadened its financial services footprint to cover all eight nations within the West African Economic and Monetary Union.

United Capital expands into two markets

In its latest expansion phase, the company received clearance from the Capital Market Authority of Rwanda to offer trust services, investment banking, and portfolio management. The dual entry into Ethiopia and Rwanda brings United Capital’s physical and operational presence to 12 African countries, stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Horn of Africa.

Peter Ashade, who has served as chief executive officer since 2018, said the corporate strategy focuses on widening financial access for local businesses rather than just increasing the firm’s geographic footprint. He said the group spent the past year building regional institutional partnerships and opening up new channels for local investment pools.

Subsidiaries clear post-consolidation capital baselines

As part of its massive expansion, United Capital completed a recapitalization of its four primary operating units regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The group met the new regulatory capital benchmarks 14 months ahead of the statutory deadline of June 30, 2027. It funded the capital top-ups entirely through internal reserves rather than selling new shares.

Financial filings show the firm’s Tier-2 issuing house division closed with a capital base of N9 billion ($6.6 million), exceeding the N7 billion regulatory baseline. The trustees’ business held N7.5 billion ($5.5 million) in capital at the end of December 2025, while the broker-dealer unit reported N2.5 billion ($1.83 million) against a required N2 billion floor.

The asset management arm grew its capital base to N13.9 billion ($10.2 million). That figure clears the N10 billion Tier-1 threshold required for institutional fund managers with more than N250 billion under management. For the 2025 financial year, United Capital reported a 35 percent increase in gross revenue to N58.55 billion ($43 million).

United Capital’s Q1 profit jumps 66 percent

Net profit after tax for the full year 2025 rose 17 percent to N28.15 billion ($20.7 million), as total assets under management crossed the N2 trillion ($1.46 billion) mark. Executives said the growth in fee income and capital gains helped shield the financial institution from regional macroeconomic pressures, including double-digit inflation and foreign exchange fluctuations.

The company carried this growth into the first quarter of 2026. Unaudited financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2026, show a 66 percent jump in net profit to N9.79 billion ($7.2 million), up from N5.89 billion ($4.3 million) in the same quarter last year. Gross quarterly earnings rose 31 percent to N17.17 billion ($12.62 million).