The title of strongest feminine banker in Nigeria shouldn’t be honorary. It rests on market capitalisation, asset base, compensation, fairness, and workforce information. Dr Adaora Umeoji holds the highest place on every measure.
Umeoji turned Group Managing Director and CEO of Zenith Bank on June 1, 2024. She was the primary girl to carry that place for the reason that financial institution was based.
She joined Zenith in 1998. She served as Deputy MD from October 2016. Her elevation adopted the financial institution’s custom of selling from inside, a sample that rewards institutional information over exterior appointments.
Under her management, Zenith turned the primary business financial institution in Nigerian historical past to cross N5 trillion in market capitalisation on the Nigerian Exchange Group. The financial institution reported a complete asset base of N31 trillion and buyer deposits of N23 trillion.
Umeoji’s compensation is the best amongst banking CEOs in Nigeria. She earns N874 million yearly, greater than some other chief government throughout the nation’s Tier-1 lenders. She additionally holds a direct fairness stake of 285,096,933 shares in Zenith Bank. At latest market values, that holding is value roughly N35.89 billion. Her funding is bigger than that of some other financial institution CEO in Nigeria.
Her educational document spans a number of disciplines. She holds a level in Sociology from the University of Jos, a level in Accounting, and First-Class Honours in Law from Baze University, Abuja. She holds an MBA from the University of Calabar, a Master of Laws from the University of Salford, and a doctorate in Business Administration from Apollos University. She has attended government programmes at Harvard Business School and Columbia Business School.
Since Umeoji assumed management, ladies have grown to account for 56 per cent of Zenith Bank’s workforce.
That is 4,900 feminine staff out of 8,773 whole employees. Zenith is the one Tier-1 lender in Nigeria with a female-majority workforce.
She based the Catholic Bankers Association of Nigeria. She helps the Pink Breath Cancer Care Foundation.
Umeoji’s tenure unquestionably locations her on the centre of a banking business formed by exchange-rate volatility, inflation, regulatory modifications, and technological disruption. Her legacy can be measured by the financial institution’s efficiency by means of these pressures.
