Paramount Bank Yenya

Jim Ovia steps down as Zenith Bank chairman after 36 years, passing the torch to CEO Adaora Umeoji.

When Jim Ovia founded Zenith Bank in July 1990 at age 38, with NGN 20 million (then about $2.5 million) in capital, Nigeria already had a rich history of indigenous banking institutions. National Bank of Nigeria (1933), African Continental Bank (1937), and Agbonmagbe Bank (1945), later renamed Wema Bank, were among the major banks. 

In May, nearly 36 years after Zenith’s founding, Ovia retired as chairman after completing the maximum 12-year tenure permitted under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) corporate governance code. Known as the godfather of Nigerian banking, Ovia leaves Zenith as Nigeria’s most valuable listed bank, with more than NGN 30 trillion (about $19.5 billion) in assets and NGN 1 trillion in after-tax profit in 2025.

Zenith was among the institutions that emerged stronger from Nigeria’s landmark 2004–05 banking consolidation, during which the CBN raised minimum capital requirements from NGN 2 billion to NGN 25 billion, reducing the number of the nation’s commercial banks from 89 to 25. 

Building an African Banking Empire

The lender has since expanded beyond Nigeria, with subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Gambia; branches in London, Paris, and Dubai; a representative office in China; and a growing East African presence following the acquisition of Paramount Bank Kenya. Last year, Zenith became the first Nigerian lender to exceed NGN 5 trillion in market capitalization.

The leadership transition follows years of internal succession planning. Adaora Umeoji, who joined Zenith in 1998, became the bank’s first female group managing director and CEO in 2024, after a 28-year career at the institution. Under her leadership, Zenith completed an NGN 350.46 billion capital raise, 160% subscribed, comfortably exceeding Nigeria’s new regulatory capital requirements while maintaining record profitability.

Ovia strengthened his financial commitment before stepping down as chairman. In December, five months before retiring, he acquired an additional NGN 14.8 billion in Zenith Bank shares, increasing his holding to 16.2% and cementing his position as the bank’s largest individual shareholder.

Ovia’s leadership laid “the foundation for what has become one of Africa’s most respected and globally recognized financial institutions,” according to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. Shareholder advocate Boniface Okezie, national coordinator of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, terms Zenith “one of the strongest banks in the country because of the solid foundation [Ovia] laid,” and expresses confidence that the lender’s governance framework will remain strong without its founder.

Charles Wachira is a contributing writer based in Kenya.