According to The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2022, Zenith Bank Plc has been named Nigeria’s Bank of the Year. The Banker Magazine, Financial Times Group, United Kingdom, presented Zenith Bank with the award at the awards ceremony held in London on December 1, 2022, in honor of Zenith Bank’s capable management, sound business model and strategy, assistance to small businesses, and initiatives to reduce energy consumption. The Banker reports that Nigeria’s competition for Bank of the Year was among the fiercest on the continent this year, fitting given that it is the continent’s largest economy.
This comes just after Zenith Bank was recognized as the top bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital of The Banker earlier in the year.
Zenith Bank Plc’s Group Managing Director and CEO, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, commented on the honor by saying that earning the Bank of the Year award “attests to our perseverance as an institution despite a very hard operating environment made worse by ongoing macroeconomic headwinds. Being acknowledged by The Banker, the oldest international banking publication in the world, is proof positive of Zenith’s tenacity as Nigeria’s and West Africa’s premier financial institution. He praised the bank’s founder and chairman, Jim Ovia, CFR, for his leadership and trailblazing work in establishing the institution’s foundation and supporting structures, the board for its outstanding leadership, the staff for their commitment and dedication, and the bank’s clients for their unwavering loyalty to the Zenith brand over the years.
The Banker’s Bank of the Year award is up for grabs and is thought of as the gold standard for banking performance. Winners are selected from throughout Africa, Asia-Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and Western Europe.
Numerous honors have been bestowed upon Zenith Bank as a result of its track record of outstanding performance, including recognition as the top bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital for the 13th year in a row, Best Bank in Nigeria for three years in a row from 2020 to 2022, Best Commercial Bank, and inclusion in The Banker Magazine’s Top 1000 World Banks Ranking.
Nigeria 2021 and 2022 in the World Finance Banking Awards; Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance Corporate Governance Awards; Best in Corporate Governance’ Financial Services’ Africa for three years in a row from 2020 to 2022 by the Ethical Boardroom; Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria; and Best Innovation In Retail Banking, Nigeria in the International Banker 2022 Banking Awards. The Bank also won awards for Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in the Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2020 and 2021, Retail Bank of the Year, for three straight years from 2020 to 2022, at the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards, and Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020 and 2021.
The Sustainability, Enterprise, and Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2021 saw Zenith Bank win in four categories, including “Best Company in Reporting and Transparency,” “Best Company in Infrastructure Development,” “Best Company in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment,” and the coveted title of “Most Responsible Organization in Africa.” Zenith Bank was also recognized as Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020.
