.
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) says it recovered approximately ₦165 billion from debtors during the first half of 2026, marking a significant improvement in its debt recovery efforts while also confirming plans to divest its stake in telecommunications operator NTEL.
The Corporation’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Alade, disclosed the figures during an interactive session with senior media executives in Lagos. According to him, the amount recovered represents a 64 percent increase compared to the ₦107 billion recovered during the corresponding period in 2025.
Alade attributed the improved performance to enhanced recovery strategies, noting that AMCON has maintained a cost-to-recovery ratio of 2.3 percent, an indicator he said reflects the efficiency of the Corporation’s debt recovery operations.
Beyond debt recoveries, the AMCON chief announced that the Corporation has commenced the process of divesting its interest in NTEL, the telecommunications company it rescued in 2024 after the operator encountered severe financial difficulties.
According to Alade, the planned exit aligns with AMCON’s statutory responsibility of disposing of assets acquired through intervention activities once they have been stabilized and repositioned. He explained that the Corporation is not intended to remain a long-term owner of businesses but to recover value on behalf of the Nigerian government and taxpayers.
NTEL emerged from the assets of the defunct NITEL and M-Tel and was once considered a promising player in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry. However, persistent financial and operational challenges led to AMCON’s intervention in 2024 to prevent the company’s collapse.
The Corporation is now seeking to transfer ownership of the telecom operator to private investors as part of its asset disposal programme, a move expected to support AMCON’s mandate of winding down acquired assets while maximizing value recovery.
Alade also reiterated AMCON’s commitment to intensifying debt recovery efforts, emphasizing that the Corporation will continue to pursue obligors through legal and other legitimate channels to recover outstanding debts owed to the Nigerian financial system.
Established to stabilize Nigeria’s banking sector following the 2009 financial crisis, AMCON has remained one of the country’s key institutions for managing non-performing loans and recovering distressed assets. The latest recovery figures highlight continued progress in its efforts to reduce outstanding obligations while preparing strategic investments, including NTEL, for eventual divestment.
