The doyen of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Mr Rasheed Yusuf, has described the chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr Jim Ovia, as the “doyen of the commercial banking sector” in Nigeria because of his significant impact in the nation’s banking sector.
Speaking at the closing gong ceremony at the NGX in Lagos on Tuesday, Mr Yusuf commended Mr Ovia for his vision and leadership.
Also, speaking, the chief executive of Zenith Bank, Ms Adaora Umeoji, praised Mr Ovia for his leadership qualities, and expressed her delight in participating in the closing gong ceremony, acknowledging the visionary leadership and innovative initiatives of the bourse.
“We are delighted to be here today to perform the closing gong ceremony – a symbol of shared progress and enduring partnership,” Ms Umeoji said.
“The NGX’s leadership has been very creative and innovative, and their electronic trading platform – X-stream played a pivotal role in the success of our recapitalization exercise, which achieved a 160 per cent subscription.
“The bank’s stock price has doubled since the recapitalization exercise, from N36.50 per share to N68. Zenith Bank has also reported impressive financial results for the Half Year (H1) of 2025, becoming the most profitable bank in Nigeria and paying the highest dividend in the industry for the half year,” she added, noting, “We are committed to creating value for our stakeholders and will continue to partner with the NGX to boost the Nigerian economy.”
The foremost banker stated further that, “Our expansion strategy is focused on following our customers’ businesses and ensuring that we go to countries and economies where we can scale and provide more returns for our shareholders.”
She stressed that the bank plans to make good on its promise of being investors’ delight by paying quantum dividends to its shareholders by year end.
According to her “For us in Zenith, we are looking forward to paying more based on the confidence the market reposed on us. We are working assiduously to ensure that we do not disappoint the Market. We are going to continue to be the investors’ delight, and we assure the market that we would continue to pay enhanced dividends come end of the year.”
Also commenting, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Emomotimi Agama, emphasised the role of the NGX in creating value in the Nigerian economic space.
He said, “I want to thank you all for making the market what it is. Without you, the market wouldn’t have seen the leap that it has achieved in the last one-and-half year. I spoke earlier that at my assumption of office, market capitalization stood at N55 trillion, today it is hovering around 89 trillion and 93 trillion. That was not done by a spirit, it was done by you. Your ability, tenacity, courage, vision and transparency have moved the market where it is. Our vision is that by next year, we will have the market at 200 trillion.”