AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE & MARKETING

BANK DIVERSIFICATION AND FINANCIAL STABILITY OF DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

Ikechukwu Collins Onyezim, Ifeoma Patricia Osamor, James Sunday Kehinde

January 27, 2026

Citation

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE & MARKETING , Vol. 10 (1) (2026) , pp. 1-18

Details

ISSN: 2805 - 4253
Published: January 27, 2026
Status: Published

Abstract

Despite numerous reforms and steps taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to manage the financial sector, financial instability persists among the regulated deposit money banks, mainly due to capital inadequacy. This study examines how diversification affects the financial stability of 15 selected national and international deposit money banks in Nigeria from 2009 to 2024. Diversification was measured by income, asset, and fund diversification, while the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) represented financial stability. The study adopted an ex post facto research design alongside a fixed-effects panel regression analysis in STATA 16.0. The results reveal that both income and fund diversification have a positive and significant impact on CAR, whereas asset diversification exerts a positive but insignificant effect. Board size and Bank size, used as control variables, also have a significant positive influence on financial stability. The study concluded that effective diversification strategies can improve bank stability. It recommended that banks should focus on increasing income-generating activities, adopt innovative asset allocation strategies, and expand funding sources to strengthen capital adequacy and long-term resilience.

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