South Africa's fourth largest bank, Nedbank, is keeping a close watch on Nigeria for possible expansion opportunities, Business Day reports.

Nedbank CEO Tom Boardman disclosed this on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Africa summit in Cape Town.

He added that the prices at which some Nigerian banks were trading before the economic crisis were extremely expensive.

If Nedbank decides to enter the Nigerian market it will follow in the footsteps Stanbic Bank, a member of Standard Bank in South Africa, which merged with Investment Banking and Trust Company (IBTC) to form Stanbic IBTC.

South Africa’s government had already endorsed three Nigerian banks – First Bank, Union Bank and UBA – to start operations in the country.