Zenith Bank Plc has been crowned Africa’s Best Bank and Nigeria’s Best Bank at the prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026, reaffirming its position as one of the continent’s leading financial institutions.
The awards, presented on July 16 at The Peninsula London Hotel, recognised the bank’s outstanding financial performance, digital innovation, customer service and contribution to economic development across Africa. Zenith Bank also retained the Nigeria’s Best Bank title for the second consecutive year.
The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are regarded as one of the highest honours in global banking, assessing financial institutions on strategy, profitability, risk management, digital transformation and stakeholder impact. This year’s edition attracted more than 770 entries from leading international banks, including HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Barclays, Standard Bank and DBS Bank.
Reacting to the recognition, Zenith Bank Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dame Dr. Adaora Umeoji, described the awards as a reflection of customers’ trust and the commitment of the bank’s workforce.
She said the recognition reinforces Zenith Bank’s ambition to build a globally competitive African financial institution while advancing financial inclusion and supporting business growth across the continent.
Umeoji also commended financial regulators in the countries where the bank operates for providing an enabling environment and dedicated the awards to the bank’s founder, Jim Ovia, whose vision, she said, laid the foundation for the institution’s continued success.
Zenith Bank maintained strong financial performance in the 2025 financial year, posting gross earnings of N4.19 trillion, a six per cent increase from the previous year. The bank also recorded N1.04 trillion profit after tax while reducing its non-performing loan ratio from 4.7 per cent to 3.8 per cent.
Shareholders were rewarded with a record total dividend of N10 per share, amounting to N410.69 billion, representing a 100 per cent increase from the N5 per share paid in 2024.
The bank also expanded investments in technology, artificial intelligence and digital banking while strengthening its pan-African operations and trade banking services.
The latest Euromoney recognition adds to Zenith Bank’s growing list of local and international awards. Earlier this year, it was ranked Nigeria’s number one bank by Tier-1 Capital for the 17th consecutive year in The Banker Top 1000 World Banks Ranking.
The bank has also received multiple honours from Global Finance, World Finance, International Banker, BusinessDay, Nairametrics, ThisDay and other international institutions for excellence in banking, corporate governance, sustainability, digital innovation and retail banking.
Beyond its financial achievements, Zenith Bank has also been recognised for corporate responsibility, winning awards for transparency, gender equality and sustainability at the SERAS CSR Awards Africa 2024.
