October 19, (THEWILL) — Zenith Bank Plc has disclosed plans to expand its operations into Côte d’Ivoire and eight other Francophone African countries, following the successful completion of a N614.65 billion hybrid capital raise.
The move marks a strategic push to deepen the bank’s footprint in Africa ahead of the March 31, 2026 recapitalisation deadline,
Speaking at the closing gong ceremony at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in the week, Group Managing Director and CEO Adaora Umeoji said the capital raise has positioned Zenith Bank for accelerated growth and regional scale.
“Since the capital raise exercise, we’ve been able to use part of the money to expand our footprints. We started by opening our Paris branch, and we are going to move from there to Côte d’Ivoire, where we are already processing the license,” Umeoji stated.
She added that the Côte d’Ivoire license would grant the bank passporting rights into eight additional Francophone African markets, aligning with the bank’s strategy to follow its customers into high-growth economies.
“This expansion strategy is a result of us following our customers’ business and ensuring that we go to countries and economies where we can scale and be able to provide more returns for our shareholders,” she explained.
Zenith Bank’s hybrid capital raise was significantly oversubscribed, increasing its capital base by 160% to N614.65 billion. Umeoji noted that the recapitalization has strengthened the bank’s balance sheet and broadened its shareholder base.
“This recapitalization exercise has really helped us, positioned us, grown our business, and it has made us have more than 700,000 shareholders since we got listed,” she said.
THEWILL reports that Zenith Bank reported an impressive performance for the first half of 2025, ending June 30. Pre-tax profit stood at N625.63 billion, while post-tax profit reached N532.18 billion. Gross earnings rose by 19.96% year-on-year to N2.521 trillion, driven primarily by interest income.
Interest income contributed 73% to gross earnings in H1 2025, up from 55% in the same period last year. The bank recorded a 60% year-on-year growth in interest income to N1.839 trillion — already surpassing 67% of its full-year 2024 interest income.
In recognition of its strong performance, Zenith Bank’s Board approved an interim dividend of N1.25 per share, a 25% increase from the N1.00 paid in H1 2024. The dividend hike underscores the bank’s commitment to delivering value to shareholders amid its expansion drive.
A recent publication by the Centre for Financial Journalism in Lagos, ‘100 Nigeria’s Top Companies’ showed that Zenith Bank ranked first as the country’s most profitable company with N1.03 trillion followed by Guranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) N1.01 trillion and United Bank for Africa (UBA) N766.57 billion.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
