By Seun Ibiyemi
Zenith Bank Plc has emerged as Africa’s Best Bank and Nigeria’s Best Bank at the prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026, reinforcing its position as one of the continent’s leading financial institutions.
The awards, presented on July 16 at The Peninsula London Hotel in the United Kingdom, saw Zenith Bank retain the Nigeria’s Best Bank title for the second consecutive year while also clinching the coveted continental award.
The dual recognition highlights the bank’s sustained excellence in financial performance, customer service, digital innovation and its contribution to economic development across Nigeria and Africa.
The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are regarded as one of the banking industry’s most prestigious honours, assessing financial institutions on strategy, profitability, risk management, digital transformation and stakeholder impact.
This year’s competition attracted more than 770 entries from leading global banks, including HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Barclays, Standard Bank and DBS Bank of Singapore.
Reacting to the awards, Zenith Bank’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dame Dr. Adaora Umeoji, described the recognition as a reflection of the confidence customers continue to place in the institution.
“We are deeply honoured by these recognitions from Euromoney. 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,” she said.
According to Umeoji, the awards would further motivate the bank to deepen financial inclusion, strengthen support for businesses and continue delivering superior value across its markets.
She also commended regulators in the jurisdictions where Zenith Bank operates for providing an enabling environment that has supported the bank’s growth and dedicated the awards to the founder of the bank, Jim Ovia, for his vision and commitment to excellence.
Zenith Bank delivered another strong financial performance in the 2025 financial year, posting gross earnings of ₦4.19 trillion, representing a six per cent year-on-year increase.
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The bank also recorded a profit after tax of ₦1.04 trillion, while improving asset quality by reducing its non-performing loan ratio from 4.7 per cent to 3.8 per cent.
In line with its dividend policy, Zenith Bank declared a record ₦10.00 dividend per share, amounting to ₦410.69 billion for shareholders in the 2025 financial year, representing a 100 per cent increase from the ₦5.00 paid in 2024.
The bank has also continued to expand its pan-African footprint while increasing investments in technology, artificial intelligence and digital banking solutions to enhance customer experience and facilitate cross-border trade.
The latest recognition adds to Zenith Bank’s growing portfolio of international and domestic awards.
Earlier this year, the bank was ranked Nigeria’s Number One Bank by Tier-1 Capital for the 17th consecutive year in The Banker magazine’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking.
It has also won Nigeria’s Best Bank at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025, The Banker’s Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in 2020, 2022 and 2024, and Best Bank in Nigeria multiple times in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards.
Other recognitions include Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria for six consecutive years in the World Finance Banking Awards, Most Sustainable Bank, Nigeria in the International Banker Awards, and several corporate governance, retail banking and sustainability awards.
The bank has also received accolades for corporate social responsibility, transparency and gender equality, including honours at the SERAS CSR Awards Africa.
The latest Euromoney awards further strengthen Zenith Bank’s reputation as one of Africa’s most resilient and innovative financial institutions amid increasing competition in the global banking industry.
