Nigerian lenders opened their credit windows wider in the second quarter of 2026, expanding access to secured, unsecured and corporate loans even as borrowers across nearly every category grew more disciplined about repayment, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has reported.
The findings, contained in the apex bank’s 2026 Q2 Credit Conditions Survey released on Wednesday, paint a picture of a banking sector cautiously easing its grip on credit just as economic sentiment appears to be brightening.
According to the CBN, banks reported increased loan availability across the board, with the net percentage balance for secured lending at -24.2, unsecured lending at -10.5 and corporate lending at -20.4 figures the bank said reflect a broad loosening in lending conditions, given how the survey’s methodology assigns weight to institutions reporting the most pronounced shifts and to those commanding larger shares of the credit market.
Demand followed a similar trajectory, though with one notable exception. Appetite for secured and corporate loans strengthened, posting net balances of 15.1 and 15.2 respectively, while demand for unsecured credit slipped marginally into negative territory at -1.2 — a signal that Nigerian households may be growing more circumspect about taking on unsecured debt even as banks make it more available.
The CBN attributed the surge in secured lending largely to an improving economic outlook, healthier liquidity conditions within the banking system, and banks’ own ambitions to grow their market share.
Unsecured lending, meanwhile, was propped up chiefly by increased availability of funds and similar market share considerations, rather than any dramatic shift in risk appetite.
On the corporate side, the picture was slightly more nuanced. Tighter wholesale funding conditions, an improving economic outlook, and evolving sector-specific risk profiles all played a role in shaping the supply of credit to businesses.
Corporate borrowers themselves were mainly reaching for loans to restructure their balance sheets the single biggest driver at 24.0 followed by capital investment (17.0) and inventory financing (12.9), suggesting firms are using the easier credit environment both to shore up their finances and to fund expansion.
Not every borrower benefited equally from the shift. The spread between unsecured lending rates and the Monetary Policy Rate narrowed to 7.8 index points, making unsecured credit relatively cheaper against the policy benchmark. Secured lending moved in the opposite direction, with its spread widening to -4.5 index points.
Corporate borrowers saw an uneven distribution of relief. Other Financial Corporations enjoyed the sharpest narrowing in spreads at 14.0, followed by medium-sized private non-financial corporations (5.0) and large private non-financial corporations (4.7).
Small businesses, however, were left out of the trend entirely; their spreads widened by -3.8, meaning smaller firms continued to pay a comparatively steeper premium for credit even as larger corporates saw conditions ease.
Perhaps the most reassuring figure for the sector was the broad decline in default rates. Secured lending defaults fell most sharply, with a net balance of 36.2, while unsecured lending defaults declined more modestly at 9.7.
Across the corporate spectrum, small businesses recorded a default improvement of 14.9, medium private non-financial corporations 13.5, large private non-financial corporations 10.7, and other financial corporations 5.9, indicating that the broader improvement in loan repayment discipline touched virtually every segment of the market, even as small businesses continued to face costlier borrowing terms.
Taken together, the CBN’s Q2 figures suggest a lending environment where banks are becoming more willing and arguably more able to extend credit, while borrowers, for the most part, are managing that credit more responsibly than before.
Whether this translates into sustained private-sector growth, however, may hinge on whether the widening cost burden on small businesses eases in subsequent quarters.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Nigerian banks eased access to credit across secured, unsecured and corporate loans in Q2 2026, and borrowers largely repaid more reliably, with default rates falling in every category.
The one factor worth flagging: small businesses were left behind by the broader relief, seeing their loan spreads widen even as everyone else’s narrowed, meaning the credit easing is real, but not yet evenly shared.
