One of the biggest banks in Nigeria, Zenith Bank, has ₦13.38 trillion in client deposits. It plans to join banks like First Bank, UBA, and Access Bank that are growing internationally by relocating to France. At the Chartered Institute of Bankers annual dinner, which was held on Friday night at Eko Hotels in Lagos, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, revealed.
Grinning broadly, Onyeagwu stated, “This afternoon, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of France to signal the commencement of the issuance of a banking licence to Zenith to commence operations in France.” Regarding the completion date for the France subsidiary’s regulatory and approval processes, the CEO of Zenith Bank was reticent.
Thus, as previously reported, Zenith Bank’s strategy is comparable to Access Bank’s plan to enter the Asian market in the first half of 2024. If the regulatory clearance is given, the bank will be able to service clients in the largest trading partner outside of Africa. An action similar to this would support Access Bank’s assets under management, which are currently $26.5 billion, and be comparable to South Africa’s Standard Bank Group and TymeBank’s entry into Eastern markets.
With its parent company based in Nigeria, Zenith Bank currently operates subsidiaries in The Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and China. Encouraging international marketing and establishing the bank as a leader in the retail and commercial sectors are its external goals. Its lending operations, distributed among its subsidiaries, are focused on export and international trade. In an effort to digitalize trade, the bank committed $1 million to the SMARTAfCFTA portal when it signed an agreement to collaborate with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) earlier this year. The unaudited third-quarter financial results of Zenith Bank increased by 149% to ₦505 billion.