The Bank of British West Africa (BBWA)—whose early headquarters stood prominently on the Lagos Marina, often photographed in the early 20th century—marked the dawn of modern banking in Nigeria and across the wider British West African territories. Founded in the late nineteenth century, the BBWA became the financial backbone of Britain’s colonial economy in West Africa and laid the foundation for Nigeria’s contemporary banking sector.
Founding and Early Operations
The BBWA was established in 1894 by Sir Alfred Lewis Jones, a prominent Liverpool shipping magnate. Recognising the growing need for structured financial services in Britain’s West African colonies, Jones founded the bank to facilitate trade and provide reliable banking for merchants and colonial administrators. While its registered head office was in Liverpool, its first African branch opened that same year in Lagos, Nigeria, quickly making the city a key financial hub of the British colonial economy.
(First Bank of Nigeria, “Our History”; E.O. Ogunsola, A History of Banking in Nigeria, 1982)
Role in the Colonial Economy
From its base on the Lagos Marina, the BBWA introduced modern banking services to a region where cash-based trade and informal credit systems had long prevailed. It provided credit and safe deposit facilities to traders, financed import-export businesses, and offered secure monetary transactions—services that were previously unavailable.
However, in its early decades, the BBWA primarily served European merchants, expatriate firms, and colonial officials, offering very limited access to indigenous Nigerian entrepreneurs. This reflected the racial and economic hierarchies of the colonial period, even as the bank’s presence helped integrate Nigeria’s economy into global trade networks.
(Akin Mabogunje, Urbanization in Nigeria, 1968)
Growth and Regional Influence
The success of the Lagos branch spurred rapid expansion across British West Africa, with new branches opening in Sierra Leone (1896), the Gold Coast (now Ghana, 1896) and The Gambia (1898). By the early 20th century, the BBWA had become the dominant financial institution in the region, shaping the flow of capital and enabling large-scale colonial commerce.
(First Bank of Nigeria, “Our History”)
Transition to First Bank of Nigeria
As Nigeria moved toward independence, the BBWA gradually localized its identity. In 1957, it changed its name to the Bank of West Africa (BWA) to reflect a less overtly colonial image. In 1969, following Nigeria’s banking reforms and indigenisation policies, the institution formally became First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
Today’s First Bank of Nigeria, still headquartered in Lagos, is the direct successor of the BBWA and remains one of the country’s largest and most enduring financial institutions—widely regarded as Nigeria’s oldest bank.
(First Bank of Nigeria, “Our History”; Central Bank of Nigeria, Fifty Years of Central Banking in Nigeria, 2009)
Legacy
The original BBWA building on the Lagos Marina—captured in photographs from the early 1900s—remains a striking symbol of the intersection between colonial trade and the rise of modern finance in West Africa. More than a century later, the institution it founded continues to shape Nigeria’s financial landscape. The BBWA’s story is therefore not only a chapter in colonial history but also the starting point of Nigeria’s modern banking tradition.
Sources
First Bank of Nigeria. “Our History.” FirstBankNigeria.com
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