Euromoney names Zenith Africa’s best bank, Nigeria’s top lender – Businessday NG

Zenith Bank Plc has secured dual honors as Africa’s Best Bank and Nigeria’s Best Bank at the recent Euromoney Awards for Excellence, cementing its position as a dominant financial lender on the continent. The Nigerian bank captured the national title for the second consecutive year, due to its glowing balance sheet, digital investments and growing regional footprint.

The awards were presented on July 16 at The Peninsula London Hotel in London. Euromoney evaluates banks based on strategy, profitability, risk management, digital transformation and stakeholder impact. This year’s awards attracted over 770 entries from financial institutions including HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Barclays, Standard Bank and DBS Bank of Singapore.

The recognition comes after Zenith Bank reported gross earnings of N4.19 trillion in the 2025 financial year, up six percent from a year earlier. Profit after tax reached N1.04 trillion, while the bank reduced its non-performing loan ratio to 3.8 percent from 4.7 percent.

The lender also declared a record total dividend of N10 per share, amounting to N410.69 billion for the 2025 financial year, double the N5 per share paid in 2024. Zenith Bank said it continued to expand investments in technology, artificial intelligence and digital banking while strengthening its pan-African trade and transaction banking business.

“We are deeply honoured by these recognitions from Euromoney,” said Adaora Umeoji, OON, group managing director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc.

“Being recognised as Africa’s Best Bank and Nigeria’s Best Bank reflects the trust of our customers, the dedication of our unicorn workforce, and our unwavering commitment to building a truly African global financial institution. These awards inspire us to do even more to deliver superior value, drive financial inclusion, and support the growth of businesses across Africa.”

Umeoji thanked regulators across the jurisdictions where the bank operates for providing what she described as an enabling regulatory environment and dedicated the awards to the bank’s founder, Jim Ovia, CFR, citing his vision and leadership.

Euromoney is one of the banking industry’s best-known awards programmes, with winners selected across global, regional and country categories.

The latest recognition adds to a series of awards for Zenith Bank. Earlier this month, The Banker ranked it Nigeria’s Number One Bank by Tier-1 Capital for the 17th consecutive year in its 2026 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking. The lender was also named Nigeria’s Best Bank at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025.

Zenith Bank has previously won Bank of the Year (Nigeria) at The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards in 2020, 2022 and 2024, Best Bank in Nigeria at the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards from 2020 to 2022, and again in 2024 and 2025, as well as Best Bank for Digital Solutions in Nigeria at the Euromoney Awards 2023. It was also listed among the World Finance Top 100 Global Companies in 2023.

Other recent recognitions include Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance Banking Awards for six consecutive years from 2021 to 2026, Most Sustainable Bank, Nigeria in the International Banker Banking Awards in 2023, 2024 and 2026, and Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance Corporate Governance Awards from 2022 to 2026.

The bank has also received non-financial honours, including Most Responsible Organisation in Africa, Best Company in Transparency and Reporting, and Best Company in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment at the SERAS CSR Awards Africa 2024.