Banking
Notes on the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act Amendment Bill, 2021
By Kamsi Atuchukwu
INTRODUCTION
On 28 April 2021, the Nigerian Senate passed the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act Amendment Bill, 2021 (SB.669) (“the 2021 Bill”) which proposes to amend the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act No. 2, 2019. If assented to by the President, this will be the third amendment to the Act.
On 19 July 2010, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Bill was signed into law and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON/the Corporation) was established.
According to then-President Goodluck Jonathan, AMCON was expected to, amongst other things, stimulate the recovery of Nigeria’s financial system and the wider economy by buying the non-performing loans (NPLs) of banks, recapitalise the intervened banks and increase access to refinancing opportunities for borrowers.
The enactment came as a reaction to the endemic problems of poor accountability and weak oversight which were prevalent in the financial system at the time. The corporation was initially given a limited lifespan of 10 years, but, like the reactive amendments made to the Electoral Act since the birth of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, several challenges have led to two amendments of the AMCON Act in 2015 and 2019.
A major obstacle faced by the corporation has been the penchant for debtors (under the Act, this includes borrowers, guarantors, and officers/shareholders of a debtor company) to frustrate and abuse the court process in a bid to stall the progress of recovery proceedings. These problems led to legislative innovations like the 2015 amendment which limited the effect of the corporation’s acquisition of an eligible bank asset (EBA) to the vesting of rights by deleting references to the word “obligations” in section 34(a), and the 2019 amendment which abolished injunctions and limitation of action in respect of AMCON claims.
It is worthy to note that these innovations have themselves faced objections, such as the argument regarding the constitutionality of section 34(6) of the AMCON Act which forbids orders of injunction against the corporation. Section 34(6) is the subject of a pending appeal at the Supreme Court.
The 2021 Bill has proposed some amendments which this work shall reveal and review.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
Besides the amendments to the citation and explanatory memorandum, the innovations sought to be introduced by the 2021 Bill are not as extensive as the previous amendments but are no less significant.
- Expansion of the Corporation’s Powers Over Debtor(s)’ Assets
Section 34 of the Act was amended in 2015 and 2019 and the 2021 Bill intends to further amend the section by substituting the existing subsections 1(a) and 1(b) with new provisions.
The proposed subsection 1(a) provides that, subject to the provisions of the Land Use Act and section 36 of the Act, upon acquisition of an EBA, the corporation shall acquire legal title to the EBA and all assets, tangible and intangible, “belonging to, traced to and in which the debtor has an interest in, whether or not such assets or property is used as security for the eligible bank asset”.
However, the 2021 Bill specifically limits the power of sale by the corporation under this subsection by providing that only assets used as security for the EBA may be disposed of by the corporation in satisfaction of the debt, even if the interest of the debtor in such an asset is merely equitable.
The proposed subsection 1(b), which deals with the registrability of title transfer documents executed by the corporation, provides that:
“Any certification of sale or certificate of transfer of title executed by the corporation in the exercise of its powers under subsection (1) (a) above shall constitute a valid registrable instrument under all applicable land registration laws applicable in the federation and in all Land and Corporate Registries in the Federation”.
Like the extant Section 45(2) of the Act which provides that a certificate of judgement in an AMCON claim is a registrable instrument, the proposed section 34 (1)(b) validates as registrable instruments, all certificates of sale and transfer under section 34 (1)(a).
By this, the corporation can validly register any documents executed as evidence of acquisition of assets traced to a debtor at all land registries and the Corporate Affairs Commission, even though these assets were never pledged as security for the EBA.
- Commencement of AMCON Claims at the Special Tribunal Established under the BOFIA
The Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 (BOFIA 2020), in section 102, established the Special Tribunal for the Enforcement and Recovery of Eligible Loans (the Tribunal). Under section 115 (1) of the BOFIA 2020, the Tribunal will have the jurisdiction to adjudicate over matters:
- pertaining to the enforcement and recovery of eligible loans by financial services banks, specialized banks or other financial institutions; and
- connected with or pertaining to the enforcement of security or guarantee, or attachment of any asset under an eligible loan made by any bank, specialized bank, or other financial institution in Nigeria, to its customers.
It must be stated that the matters above are not exhaustive as subsection (5) provides that the Tribunal shall exercise jurisdiction on any other matter as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.
Since the passing of the BOFIA 2020, there have been arguments in legal circles on whether the corporation is a financial institution within the meaning of the BOFIA.
The proposed section 54(1) and (2) of the AMCON Act aims to settle this point as it empowers the corporation with the discretion to commence debt recovery actions at the Tribunal and the Rules and Practice Directions of the Tribunal shall apply in such an action. Sub-section (2) allows the corporation to apply for special orders availed to eligible financial institutions under BOFIA and bring applications before the Tribunal under the provisions of the AMCON Act.
The intendment of the suggested section 54(1) and (2) would appear to be the need to protect the time-bound corporation from protracted litigation. Previous moves have been made to achieve this. The first major one was the designation of AMCON Track Judges of the Federal High Court and the inclusion of appeals by or against the corporation as fast track appeals under the Court of Appeal (Fast Track) Practice Directions 2014.
While one must admit that AMCON claims have gained more traction after these interventions, they have proven rather insufficient. It is for this reason that some legal commentators have suggested the statutory creation of special courts or tribunals for the resolution of AMCON claims.
The proposed section 54(1) and (2) will certainly be a positive step towards achieving a timely resolution of AMCON claims. It must be noted, however, that if the 2021 Bill is signed into law, the commencement of actions at the Tribunal remains at the discretion of AMCON and without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.
The Federal High Court remains a competent court for the adjudication of debt recovery claims by the corporation. This is unarguable given the proposed section 61(c) which defines “Court” as:
“[T]he Federal High Court, the Special Tribunal for Enforcement & Recovery of Eligible Loans and other superior courts exercising appellate jurisdictions over the Federal High Court and the Special Tribunal for Enforcement & recovery of Eligible Loans”.
- Registrable Instruments of Title at Land Registries
The 2019 amendment introduced section 45 (2) which provides that a certificate of a judgement obtained in a proceeding constitutes a registrable instrument of title in favour of the corporation in all land registries in Nigeria.
The proposed amendment to this subsection seeks to expand the scope of registrable instruments to include “any document presented by the corporation as evidencing title, whether legal, equitable or traced in a property…”.
While a registration based on a certificate of judgement should be a seamless exercise, a registration based on “any document presented by the corporation” may be met with some practical challenges especially in view of the provisions of some existing land instrument registration laws.
For example, section 74(1) of the Lagos State Land Registration Law (Cap L41, Laws of Lagos State 2015) provides that dealings in land shall be effected by deed and section 74(3) of the Law provides that “[a] document for which no form is provided shall be in such manner as the Registrar may approve”.
If the 2021 Bill is signed into law, it would be necessary for the corporation to launch an awareness drive directed at all institutions whose operations may be impacted by the amendment. Examples of such institutions are the land registries of all the states.
- Tenor and Dissolution date of the Corporation
Section 61 of the AMCON Act was affected by the two previous amendments and the 2021 Bill proposes further amendments in the manner below:
- The amendment of the meaning of the word “tenor” as used in Part IX of the Act to mean “a period of 5 years from the expiration of the current tenor but may be extended by a resolution of the National Assembly for such further period as the corporation may determine with the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria”.
The 2015 amendment had defined “tenor” as a period of 10 years from 2010 which may be extended by the National Assembly for a period not exceeding 5 years.
The proposed amendment suggests that the drafters envisage the possibility that the corporation would be around for a much longer time than initially envisioned. This is not a surprise given the many AMCON claims pending at trial courts and its over N4 trillion debt portfolio.
- The introduction of a definition for the phrase “dissolution date” which means “a date to be determined by the Board of Directors of the corporation with the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria”.
This is a correction to an omission in the 2019 amendment where the phrase “dissolution date” was introduced in section 47 (which deals with the appointment of liquidators to wind up the corporation on that date), but no definition was provided. Like the amendment to the meaning of “tenor” this new definition also indicates that the drafters of the 2021 Bill forecast a longer lifespan for the corporation.
- As stated earlier, the definition of “Court” has been amended to mean “the Federal High Court, the Special Tribunal for Enforcement & Recovery of Eligible Loans and other superior courts exercising appellate jurisdictions over the Federal High Court and the Special Tribunal for Enforcement & recovery of Eligible Loans”.
- Apart from the introduction of the Special Tribunal, the significant difference in this definition is the deletion of the High Courts of the State and the FCT which were introduced in the 2019 amendment. A strict interpretation of the 2019 definition means that AMCON recovery claims can be commenced at the High Courts of the State and the FCT and the 2021 Bill aims to reverse that deviation.
CONCLUSION
The previous amendments to the AMCON Act have attracted immense reactions, both in the courts and in public discourse. This trajectory is unlikely to change if the 2021 Bill is given presidential assent without any changes.
Media reports on the third reading at the Senate indicate that there was opposition to certain aspects of the 2021 Bill by some Senators, most of whom expressed their dissatisfaction with the proposal to amend section 34 to grant the corporation legal title to all the assets of a debtor, even where such assets were not used as security for the eligible bank asset. It will not be a surprise if that is only a prelude to what is to come.
The main goal of drafters of all amendments to the AMCON Act would appear to be the need to assist the corporation in achieving its mandate timely and effectively.
Senator Uba Sani, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, expressed this rationale during the presentation of the 2021 Bill which he said will “provide for a quicker, easier and legitimate process of assets disposal.”
However, extremely controversial amendments can create a catch-22 in that they can open a pathway for a barrage of objections. These objections can create a deviation from the corporation’s debt recovery claim and ultimately lead to a longer time spent in the recovery process, especially as such issues would be considered as recondite points of law on appeal. The Executive should consider the need for balance while reviewing the 2021 Bill for assent.
Kamsi Atuchukwu, a legal practitioner, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian businessman Femi Otedola has strengthened his position as the largest shareholder in First Holdco Plc, increasing his stake to 26 per cent through the acquisition of additional shares worth N222.21 billion on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
According to a disclosure on the NGX on Thursday, the chairman of First Holdco acquired further 1,779,094,976 shares of the group at N124.90 per share.
The transaction on the Nigerian main bourse takes Mr Otedola’s position to 11,763,018,192 shares from 9,277,792,037 as of June 30 2026, as per the company’s unaudited results, making him the largest shareholder of the oldest financial institution in Nigeria.
The acquisition also has implications under Nigeria’s takeover rules, which require any shareholder that acquires 30 per cent or more of a listed company to make a mandatory offer to the remaining shareholders.
With an estimated 26 per cent stake in First Holdco, which is equivalent to nearly 12 billion shares out of the company’s 45.48 billion outstanding shares, Mr Otedola is now nearing the regulatory threshold.
The gap to the mandatory takeover threshold is about 2.49 billion shares, fewer than the block Otedola acquired in July 2026 alone. A further purchase of a similar scale would trigger Nigeria’s mandatory takeover rules, requiring him to make an offer for all the remaining shares of First Holdco Plc, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
As of now, the billionaire has given no indication that he intends to trigger a mandatory takeover, consistently describing his share purchases as a long-term investment rather than a path to outright control of the group.
Mr Otedola’s stake-building has been years in the making but gathered significant pace in 2026. He held 6.68 billion shares, representing 15.95 per cent of First Holdco, at the end of June 2025, when the company had 41.88 billion shares outstanding.
By March 31, 2026, his holding had risen to 8.06 billion shares against an expanded share capital of 44.45 billion. Three months later, his stake increased to 9.28 billion shares after he acquired about 1.22 billion shares in a single quarter, largely through indirect holdings. A further acquisition through his investment vehicle, Calvados Global Services, this month pushed his holdings above the 10 billion-share mark for the first time.
He has also reiterated that the money committed is his own rather than borrowed.
In recent months, Mr Otedola has also made other high-profile investment moves beyond the banking sector, including acquiring a luxury residence in London’s exclusive Mayfair district, underscoring his growing international real estate portfolio.
He is believed to have participated in a financing arrangement involving the Dangote Refinery, placing funds with the facility as it secured working capital to support the scale-up of operations.
With the 30 per cent threshold now within reach, is a First Holdco takeover Mr Otedola’s next move?
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In the first six months of this year, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, the parent company of Sterling Bank Limited, grew its gross earnings by 31.5 per cent to N279.6 billion.
This was buoyed by a 33.7 per cent jump in interest income to N223.6 billion as the loan book expanded and asset yields improved, with non-interest income rising by 23.3 per cent to N56.0 billion, supported by notable increases in fee income and other operating income lines. As of June 30, 2026, the organisation’s net interest income climbed by 41.0 per cent to N137.4 billion.
The unaudited results for the half-year ended June 30 showed that the firm recorded a 21.9 per cent surge in profit before tax (PBT) to N55.5 billion, and a 20.4 per cent leap in profit after tax (PAT) to N50.3 billion.
The broad-based growth across key performance indices extended to the balance sheet, with total assets expanding by 19.3 per cent to N4.67 trillion, supported by a 21.1 per cent growth in customer deposits to N3.62 trillion and disciplined expansion in the loan portfolio.
Shareholders’ funds increased in the period under review by 27.8 per cent to N547.7 billion, primarily reflecting the N96.6 billion raised through a public offer of 13.8 billion ordinary shares.
Also, return on average equity stood at 20.6 per cent and return on average assets improved to 2.35 per cent from 2.05 per cent.
The performance by Sterling Holdings was anchored by the ongoing modernisation of its technology stack and operating model across its commercial (Sterling Bank), non-interest (AltBank), and wealth management (SterlingFI) arms.
That work is showing up in faster service turnaround, tighter unit economics, and greater headroom to absorb rising customer activity without loosening its risk posture.
The combination of a reinforced capital base, expanding deposit franchise, and broader earnings mix leaves Sterling Holdings positioned to compound growth in the second half of the year, channelling capital where it earns most and continuing to lend into the real economy.
Zenith Bank Plc has spent 2026 collecting the kind of hardware that separates a good regional lender from a genuine African champion.
Fresh off a sweep of Euromoney’s most coveted awards, a completed acquisition in Kenya, a newly opened subsidiary in Francophone West Africa, and plans for a London Stock Exchange listing in 2027, Nigeria’s most profitable bank is now making the case that it is also the best-run one.
A close read of its unaudited first-quarter 2026 financial statements — its net interest income, fee income, capital buffers and loan book all expanding faster than the industry average — backs that case up with numbers.
The Lagos-based lender’s Group profit before tax rose 3% year-on-year to ₦361 billion in the three months to March 31, 2026, the highest absolute pre-tax profit among Nigeria’s seven largest banks and the only one of the group to combine top-line profitability with double-digit growth in net interest income, fee income and shareholders’ equity simultaneously.
Layer on a historic Euromoney double and an accelerating Pan-African build-out, and the numbers tell a story that goes well beyond one good quarter.
Balance Sheet Scale: Bigger, Cleaner, Better Capitalised
Zenith closed the first quarter of 2026 with total assets of ₦32.01 trillion, up 1.8% from ₦31.46 trillion at the end of December 2025, even as the balance sheet held broadly flat year-on-year against the ₦32.42 trillion reported in March 2025 — a sign of a bank actively re-shaping its asset mix rather than simply expanding its footprint.
Customer deposits, the cheapest and stickiest source of funding for any lender, climbed 7.9% year-on-year to ₦24.47 trillion, while total shareholders’ equity surged 16.3% to ₦5.17 trillion — a rate of capital accretion that outpaces balance-sheet growth and signals a bank retaining and compounding earnings rather than chasing volume.
That equity build has real consequences for market standing. Zenith Bank’s shares have gained more than 104% year-to-date through July 23, 2026, pushing its market capitalisation to roughly ₦5.18 trillion.
The top three banks by market capitalisation are now separated by less than 2% of market value — but Zenith is the only one of the trio backing its valuation with the industry’s fastest brand-value growth, up 33.6% on the continent, according to the latest report by Brand Finance.
While Access Holdings’ aggressively acquisitive strategy has made it Nigeria’s largest bank by sheer balance-sheet size — ₦51.56 trillion in total assets as of 2025 — Zenith’s smaller, more capital-efficient balance sheet is generating disproportionately more profit per naira of assets deployed, a theme that recurs throughout its results.
Loan Book: Growing Faster Than the Balance Sheet, Cleaner Than a Year Ago
Zenith’s credit expansion in the first quarter outpaced every other line on the balance sheet. Gross loans and advances to customers rose 8.6% year-on-year to ₦12.04 trillion, while net loans — after impairment allowances — jumped a sharper 13.2% year-on-year to ₦11.38 trillion, reflecting both fresh credit extension and an improving quality of the existing book.
That improvement in quality is the more important story for analysts and investors skeptical of loan growth achieved by lowering underwriting standards.
Zenith’s non-performing loan ratio — Stage-3, credit-impaired loans as a share of gross loans — stood at 3.79% at the end of March 2026, essentially flat against 3.82% at the end of 2025 but down sharply from 4.70% at the end of 2024, continuing a multi-year de-risking trend even as the loan book itself expanded.
Independent disclosures from full-year 2025 put Zenith’s loan-loss coverage ratio at 172.6% — meaning provisions held against bad loans exceed the value of the impaired loans themselves by more than 70%, a comfortable buffer well above what regulators require.
Growing the loan book faster than the balance sheet while simultaneously cutting the bad-loan ratio is a combination few Tier-1 African lenders can claim in the same quarter.
Interest and Fee Income: A Diversifying Revenue Engine
Zenith’s income statement shows a bank successfully diversifying away from pure interest-rate carry. Gross earnings for the quarter rose 6.1% year-on-year to ₦1.01 trillion, but the composition of that growth is the more telling detail.
Net interest income — the core spread between what the bank earns on loans and investments and what it pays on deposits — climbed 7.3% to ₦634.1 billion, the largest net interest income of any Nigerian bank in the quarter.
The standout, however, is fee income. Net fee and commission income surged 44.6% year-on-year to ₦81.0 billion, up from ₦56.0 billion a year earlier — a growth rate more than six times faster than net interest income and a clear signal that Zenith is successfully monetising transaction banking, digital channels and card services rather than relying solely on its loan book for growth.
For full-year 2025, the bank’s net interest margin stood at 13.7%, one of the widest among Nigerian Tier-1 banks and a reflection of disciplined asset-liability pricing through a high-rate environment.
Return on Equity: Profitability That Outruns Balance-Sheet Growth
Return on average equity is where Zenith’s capital discipline shows up most clearly. The bank closed full-year 2025 with a return on average equity of 23.2% and a return on average assets of 3.4%, both figures independently disclosed alongside its FY2025 results.
That profitability was rewarded directly at the shareholder level: Zenith’s board doubled its total dividend for 2025 to ₦10.00 per share — split between a ₦1.25 interim payout and a ₦8.75 final dividend — from ₦5.00 the previous year, distributing roughly ₦410.7 billion to shareholders, one of the largest dividend payouts in Nigerian corporate history.
Cost discipline underpins the returns: full-year 2025 cost-to-income ratio came in at 45.2%, while the bank’s own Q1 2026 figures point to further improvement, with operating expenses absorbing roughly 47.15% of operating income for the quarter — a leaner ratio than the FY2025 run rate.
Against peers, the ROE story favours Zenith on a risk-adjusted basis.
Capital Adequacy: A Fortress Balance Sheet
Regulators and rating agencies alike have flagged Zenith’s capital position as a standout. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at roughly 25% at the end of full-year 2025 and its liquidity ratio at 71%, both comfortably clear of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulatory minimums for systemically important banks. Fitch Ratings’ most recent update pegs Zenith’s standalone total capital ratio even higher, at 25.8% at end-2025, against a fully-loaded core capital ratio of 28% — a buffer Fitch frames as well in excess of regulatory requirements.
Equity research from CardinalStone projects that buffer widening further, forecasting a capital adequacy ratio of 28.7% for 2026 and 30.8% for 2027 as retained earnings continue to compound. A capital position this deep gives Zenith room to absorb credit shocks, fund loan growth internally, and — as its international ambitions make clear — write bigger cross-border checks without straining its own solvency.
A Historic Euromoney Double
The market recognition arrived in force this month. At the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026, presented July 16 at The Peninsula London Hotel against a record field of more than 770 entries, Zenith Bank was named both “Africa’s Best Bank” and “Nigeria’s Best Bank” — the latter for the second consecutive year, having also won the national title in 2025.
Zenith Bank Group Managing Director Dr Adaora Umeoji called the double “a reflection of the trust of our customers, the dedication of our unicorn workforce, and our unwavering commitment to building a truly African global financial institution.”
The Euromoney sweep sits atop an already crowded trophy shelf: Zenith has been ranked the Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital for 17 consecutive years in The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks Ranking, and has separately been named Bank of the Year (Nigeria) by The Banker in 2020, 2022 and 2024, and Best Bank in Nigeria by Global Finance’s World’s Best Banks Awards in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025.
Pan-African Expansion: Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and a London Listing
Zenith’s ambitions have moved decisively past Nigeria’s borders in 2026, on three fronts simultaneously.
East Africa: In April 2026, Zenith completed its acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Paramount Bank Kenya Limited, following regulatory approvals from both the Central Bank of Kenya and Nigerian authorities — a deal first disclosed in November 2025.
Paramount is a modest player — ranked 33rd of Kenya’s 39 licensed banks with roughly 0.2% market share — but the acquisition hands Zenith a regulated foothold in East Africa’s largest and most stable economy, with GDP exceeding $136 billion, giving it a platform to build out corporate and trade-finance relationships beyond West Africa.
Francophone West Africa: On April 29, 2026, Zenith formally launched its Côte d’Ivoire subsidiary at SCI Wall Street in Abidjan’s Plateau business district — its first entry into Francophone West Africa after securing a license from the Ivorian Ministry of Finance and Budget in December 2025 and regulatory clearance from the UMOA Banking Commission.
The subsidiary, led by Cédric Tano, gives Zenith direct access to the eight-nation WAEMU currency bloc — Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Benin and Côte d’Ivoire — and comes as the bank simultaneously moves into Cameroon and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community.
“We are proud to establish Zenith Bank’s presence in Côte d’Ivoire at a time of strong economic growth in the country and increasing regional integration,” Tano said at the launch. GMD Adaora Umeoji framed the move as fulfilling founder Jim Ovia’s founding vision: “to build a truly global brand with a strong presence across Africa and key international markets.”
The Ivorian entry follows a ₦350.5 billion (roughly $231 million) capital raise disclosed in 2025, of which 40% was earmarked specifically for overseas expansion, alongside a newly secured Paris branch license to support the broader Francophone Africa push.
London: Perhaps the most consequential long-term move is Zenith’s stated intent to list on the London Stock Exchange in 2027. Bloomberg first reported the plan on March 17, 2026, describing Zenith as seeking to “broaden access to capital and strengthen client services.”
A bank spokesperson told Bloomberg the rationale is explicitly deal-driven: “There are a lot of deals we have on the table to finance across the UK and other countries, for which we need to raise more capital.”
The plan builds on Zenith’s existing UK subsidiary and Manchester branch network, and would give the bank direct access to deeper international capital pools to fund the very cross-border pipeline its Kenyan and Ivorian expansions are now generating.
Taken together, the Kenya deal, the Côte d’Ivoire launch and the LSE listing plan describe a bank building simultaneously outward in three directions — East Africa, Francophone West Africa, and international capital markets — rather than defending Nigerian market share alone.
The Bottom Line
No single data point confirms Zenith Bank’s case as Nigeria’s Best-in-Class Lender — it is the accumulation of them. A balance sheet growing its loan book faster than its total assets while cutting bad debt. A revenue mix diversifying into fee income at a 44.6% annual clip. A capital position deep enough that rating agencies and equity researchers alike see room for it to widen further through 2027. A shareholder payout that doubled in a single year. And now, external validation from the industry’s most competitive award program, layered on top of simultaneous expansion into Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and — pending 2027 — the London Stock Exchange.
Rivals can point to faster growth in isolated quarters, but none combine Zenith’s scale, capital strength and cross-border momentum in the same reporting period. That combination, more than any single metric, is what underpins the “best-in-class” label Euromoney’s judges affixed to Zenith Bank this July.
NOTE: This analysis draws on Zenith Bank Plc’s unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2026, supplemented by independent research and data from MoneyCentral, Bloomberg, ThisDay, Nairametrics, Euromoney, Fitch Ratings, CardinalStone Research, Brand Finance and other sources. All figures are in Nigerian naira unless otherwise stated. Market capitalisation and share-price data reflect trading as of the cited publication dates (July 23, 2026) and are subject to change.
