Banking
Children’s Day: Zenith Bank Renews Commitment to Raising Tomorrow’s Leaders
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Zenith Bank is championing the narrative that children are the true leaders of tomorrow by deepening its investment in carefully curated initiatives that elevate kids across education, financial literacy, health, digital inclusion, and social protection, building a generation equipped to thrive and lead.
For Zenith Bank, much more than commemorating the annual Children’s Day marked every May 27, every child matters, and the bank’s footprint reflects a deliberate, pan-African strategy to nurture potential from the earliest age.
Zenith Bank has been the financial institution partner to Kiddies Corner on Inspiration 92.3FM Lagos for over three years, anchoring the Tuesday edition and the Zenith Financial Literacy Friday show. The programme blends spelling bee contests with financial literacy questions, creating awareness and onboarding children into the Zenith Children’s Account (ZECA). This partnership came alive at the Inspiration FM Children’s Day Carnival on Saturday, May 23, 2026, where Zenith Bank hosted over 1,000 children and their parents, celebrating ZECA winners with games, skits, and Zenith Bank-branded gifts.
The company’s Zenith Financial Literacy Week, held quarterly, takes this mission into select schools across all 36 states and the FCT. Students are trained on savings, budgeting, basic investments, and their retail products, with the top performer in each school awarded N50,000. Complementing this is the Bank’s nationwide Financial Literacy Program under the CBN-mandated Global Money Week, which in 2025 alone reached 3,622 students across 22 LGAs, deploying 137 bank employee volunteers as educators.
In alignment with the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Quality Education, Zenith Bank has donated state-of-the-art ICT centres and computer systems to schools and universities nationwide, including a Computer Centre to Bamaina Academy, Dutse, Jigawa State. Its transformative interventions include fully equipped libraries, vocational facilities, and large-scale school renovations, from Ojota Secondary School and Victoria Island Secondary School in Lagos to Hugallawa Primary School in Jigawa. Targeted financial support further breaks barriers with a N1 million cash donation to Louisville Girls High School, Ijebu-Itele, supporting girl-child education; infrastructure upgrades at Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School; a N1 million scholarship endowment for St. Francis Catholic Secondary School; and support for the North-East Children’s Fund to aid education in conflict-affected communities.
Through its Primary Healthcare Centre Initiative across all 774 LGAs, Zenith Bank educates parents on early childhood savings during routine visits, linking health and financial well-being. The “PAD-A-QUEEN” Initiative commemorates the International Day of the Girl Child, reaching 5,000 girls in 10 schools with sanitary pads, hygiene kits, and menstrual health education to keep girls in school and promote SDGs 3, 4, and 5.
The lender’s compassion extends to the most vulnerable. At Bethesda Home and School for the Blind, Idi Oro, Lagos, Zenith donated braille materials, food, and toiletries. For the 2026 International Day for Street Children, it partnered with Bosco Child Protection Centre on medical check-ups, food, clothing, and counselling. Annual Christmas Charity Visits to orphanages deliver cash, toys, and essential supplies, while support for the Smile and Shine Children Foundation’s Strive Conference empowers over 2,000 adolescents with life skills and leadership training.
“At Zenith Bank, we are deliberate about initiatives that elevate children because they are not just our future, they are our present responsibility. As Whitney Houston so poignantly sang, ‘I believe the children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way.’ That is the philosophy driving our investments in education, financial literacy, health, and digital inclusion. From Kiddies Corner to ICT centres, from PHCs to orphanages, we are teaching them well, equipping them early, and giving them the tools to lead. Zenith Bank renews its commitment to every Nigerian child, to nurture their dreams, protect their dignity, and secure their tomorrow,” the chief executive of Zenith Bank, Ms Adaora Umeoji, commented.
Championing youth expression, the Zenith Annual Youth Parade, hosted by the Bank for 19 years, stands as a flagship Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. Bringing together thousands of children and teenagers in a vibrant showcase of unity and discipline, the parade has remained dedicated since its inception to the vital mission of supporting, nurturing, and empowering the Nigerian child, reinforcing the Bank’s belief that leadership is learned early through teamwork, confidence, and celebration of young Nigerian identity.
For Zenith Bank, Children’s Day is more than a date on the calendar. It is a daily pledge to empower, protect, and prepare Nigeria’s children for leadership. From classrooms to communities, the Bank’s initiatives are teaching them well and letting them lead the way because the future belongs to children who are equipped today.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An initiative known as Nigeria Lightning Rounds, designed to expand funding opportunities for Nigerian startups and small businesses by connecting founders with local and international investors, has been launched by ProvidusUnity Bank, in partnership with US-based global venture firm and accelerator, gener8tor.
Scheduled to be held on July 15, 2026, Nigeria Lightning Rounds will feature carefully selected startups engaging with targeted investors who have expressed interest in supporting Nigerian innovation.
Participating founders will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses through focused 15-minute virtual sessions facilitated by gener8tor and ProvidusUnity Bank’s networks.
The program will focus on high-growth sectors including fintech, healthtech, manufacturing, sustainability, and AI, but welcomes SMEs from all industries, with intending participants urged to apply via https://www.gener8tor.com/lightning-rounds/nigeria.
“We recognise that access to capital remains one of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Through our partnership with gener8tor, we are creating a platform that connects promising Nigerian founders with investors who can provide the support required to scale their businesses,” the Head of Business Development at ProvidusUnity Bank, Mr Ernest Elue, stated.
“The partnership reinforces ProvidusUnity Bank’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by supporting innovation, enabling access to opportunities, and creating pathways for businesses with high-growth potential,” he added.
Also commenting, the Director of Lightning Rounds at gener8tor, Ms Elizabeth Larios, said, “gener8tor is thrilled to partner with ProvidusUnity Bank to extend the Lightning Rounds model into Nigeria.
“This collaboration reflects our commitment to building equitable ecosystems and driving capital to the most promising and underrepresented entrepreneurs.”
Lightning Rounds are a signature initiative of gener8tor’s investment platform, which has facilitated thousands of investor-startup meetings globally. The format is optimised to eliminate friction, reduce bias in early-stage fundraising, and help founders secure capital from investors aligned with their mission and stage. gener8tor’s previous Lightning Rounds for Nigerian Founders in 2025 featured 18 participating Investors and led to 50 investment meetings facilitated.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The verification of the depositors of the 46 microfinance banks, whose operating licenses were revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over a week ago, has commenced.
The exercise, aimed at refunding those whose funds were trapped in the small lenders, is being conducted by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
In a statement on Thursday, the agency said its staff members have been positioned at the offices of the affected banks across the country to attend to depositors.
It was disclosed that depositors of the defunct banks, who had their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) linked to their accounts in the failed banks, will be paid through their alternative accounts in existing banks.
However, depositors whose BVNs were not linked to their accounts in the failed banks have been encouraged to visit the affected banks’ offices with proof of account ownership, a passport photograph, verifiable means of identification (Driver’s Licence, Permanent Voter’s Card, International Passport or National ID Card) and BVN.
NDIC also stated that depositors can alternatively file their claims online through its website: www.ndic.gov.ng, to complete the Pre-Verification Claims Form by clicking on the Search Bar, and typing Pre-Verification Claims Form; opening the Form and filling in their details. They can also do so by clicking the link: https://ndic.gov.ng/ndic-pre-verification-claims-form/ or by visiting any of the NDIC offices closest to them to file their claims.
For further enquiries, the corporation can be reached on any of the following lines: 09037273810, 09038197064, 08104220807, 09064657140.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolment has slowed significantly in 2026 following the introduction of a stricter regulatory framework by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the latest data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) showing that registrations are on course to fall well below last year’s record.
The BVN database stood at 69.55 million as of July 5, 2026, up from 69.32 million in June, indicating that only 228,947 new registrations were recorded over the period. Since the end of 2025, when the database stood at 67.8 million, total enrolments have increased by 1.75 million.
At the current pace, however, BVN registrations are unlikely to match the 4.3 million new enrolments recorded in 2025, suggesting a sharp deceleration in growth this year.
The slowdown comes after the CBN introduced a revised BVN regulatory framework in March, with the new rules taking effect on May 1, 2026. The framework tightened controls around enrolment, identity verification and fraud monitoring as part of efforts to strengthen the integrity of the banking system.
Among the key changes was the introduction of a minimum enrolment age of 18 years, effectively preventing minors from registering for a BVN.
The new framework also limits customers to a one-time change of the phone number linked to their BVN and requires financial institutions to place BVNs linked to suspected fraudulent transactions on a temporary watch-list for up to 24 hours while investigations are carried out.
The stricter rules contrast with last year’s surge in registrations, which was largely driven by the introduction of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative that enabled Nigerians in the diaspora to complete BVN enrolment remotely, removing physical barriers and expanding access to the financial system.
Launched on February 14, 2014, the BVN scheme was introduced by the CBN in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, NIBSS and German technology firm Dermalog to assign every bank customer a unique biometric identity that can be verified across Nigeria’s banking industry.
