Global Finance Names Zenith Bank Best Bank In Nigeria for the 2nd Successive Year

Reputable magazine, Global Finance, names Zenith Bank the best bank in Nigeria for the second time this year. This happened at the 28th edition of their Annual Best Bank Awards Winners in Africa. 

The awards are acknowledged as one of the world's most prestigious and coveted awards in the corporate world. Winners are selected in 150 countries across all regions of the world after large-scale consultations with different financial executives, consultants, and analysts around the world.

The magazine, which has been running since 1987 and boasts of readers in 163 countries, regularly awards best-performing financial institutions and is known for operating with the highest degree of excellence by the global financial community. They employ the opinions of seasoned analyst, banking consultants, and other recognized voices in the field, as well as other general criteria like,

- Profitability

- Product innovation

- Growth in assets

- Geographic reach

- Strategic relationships in the industry

- New business development

The editorial director of the magazine, Joseph Giarraputo disclosed at the event that of all the analysis and assessments are done in the magazine's 28 years of existence, this year's happens to be the most valuable due to the economic downturn wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic and consequent lockdown.

According to him, "Banks are playing a key role in economic recovery around the world, and as such, our Best Bank awards highlight the leaders in restoring growth and mapping a way forward."

Zenith Bank, which is Nigeria's biggest bank by customer deposit, has been doing remarkably well despite the economic hardship. Since its establishment in May of 1990, it has established itself as a leader in the banking world, leading the expedition of Nigerian banks into the digital space, spending up to N20 billion on Information Technology in 2020.

It was also the first Nigerian bank to pass the N200 billion profitability mark as its profit for the 2019 financial year amounted to N208.8 billion (after-tax).

This is not the first time Zenith Bank is being recognized for its stellar performance, in 2019, it was voted by the World Finance as Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria and as well as Best Digital Bank. It also received recognition as Bank of The Year and Best in Retail Banking at the 2019 BOFI awards. (Banks and Other Financial Institutions)

In 2020, it emerged in the Banker Magazine's “Top 500 Banking Brands 2020” as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria for the third consecutive time and was also selected as Bank of The Decade during the ThisDay Awards.