Best bank 2025: Zenith Bank
Zenith Bank emerged as Nigeria’s standout performer in a year marked by high interest rates and currency volatility, delivering exceptional financial results and making strategic investments in digital transformation, sustainability and financial inclusion.
The bank delivered a 67% increase in profit before tax in 2024, reaching ₦1.3 trillion ($850 million), and recorded an 86% rise in gross earnings to ₦3.97 trillion, underpinned by strong growth in both interest and non-interest income. Total assets climbed to ₦30 trillion, up 47% year-on-year, while customer deposits surged by 45% to ₦22 trillion, reflecting Zenith’s dominant corporate deposit base and deepening retail reach.
The bank’s performance reflected a combination of disciplined risk management, an optimised treasury portfolio and sustained investment in digital and customer-centric innovation. Interest income soared by 138%, driven by expansion in the loan book and higher yields on government securities. Net interest income more than doubled to ₦1.7 trillion, underlining Zenith’s capacity to grow core earnings while navigating high inflation and currency instability.
Retail banking was a key growth engine. Zenith onboarded over 2.3 million new retail clients in 2024, bringing its total customer base to 38.7 million. This growth was supported by a tiered segmentation strategy and the November 2024 launch of “EaZy by Zenith”, a mobile wallet app enabling frictionless onboarding and a comprehensive range of digital banking services for underserved and digital-native customers. The new tool added over 150,000 customers within months of launch.
Zenith also completed a full core banking infrastructure upgrade through Project Tiger, enhancing trade finance, treasury, lending and customer service systems with cloud-native, AI-ready capabilities. “We have scaled our technology infrastructure to enable continuous availability, integration agility and superior customer experiences,” says Adaora Umeoji, group managing director/chief executive at Zenith Bank.
Environmental, social and governance remained integral to Zenith’s strategy. The bank screened 96% of credit transactions for environmental and social risk and supported high-impact corporate social responsibility projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including urban infrastructure, youth empowerment and education initiatives. In line with its international growth vision, Zenith opened a new branch in Paris in 2024 and is actively seeking expansion into West and Central African markets to broaden its FX base and earnings diversification.
With a strong balance sheet, foresighted leadership and continuous innovation, Zenith serves as a benchmark for financial strength, digital evolution and sustainable impact in Nigeria’s banking sector.
Best investment bank 2025: Chapel Hill Denham
Chapel Hill Denham demonstrated strong leadership in Nigeria’s investment banking landscape in 2024, navigating turbulent macroeconomic conditions with resilience, innovation and execution strength.
Amid a 60% drop in domestic bond issuance volumes and heightened investor caution, the firm secured many of the market’s most complex mandates – often on a sole advisor basis – and more than doubled its investment banking revenues year-on-year.
In equity capital markets, Chapel Hill Denham continued to expand digital access and redefine market norms. Its proprietary PrimaryOffer platform played a central role in facilitating the 2024 rights issues of Access Bank and Zenith Bank, and FCMB’s public offering – marking only the second time that digital application technology was deployed for equity transactions in Nigeria. “We pulled in our technology guys and downloaded to them 30 years of our capital markets experience and best practice,” says Chapel Hill Denham CEO Bolaji Balogun. “We had said to them that the days of settling large equity issuances over several weeks were gone and we must continue to push digital offering. This was clearly untested ground, but it has proven to be effective.”
The firm also acted as lead financial adviser on the landmark listing by introduction of Aradel Holdings at a ₦3 trillion valuation, a pathfinder deal that is expected to catalyse further upstream oil and gas listings.
Elsewhere, Chapel Hill Denham led the largest corporate rights issue ever in the domestic equity markets for AB InBev’s Nigerian unit, ensuring timely capital raising to refinance foreign currency debt ahead of a sharp devaluation. The bank’s track record in shareholder engagement and regulatory navigation was exemplified by its advisory role in the take-private of Flour Mills of Nigeria, where it secured unanimous shareholder approval for one of Nigeria’s best-loved brands and old-listed companies.
The firm maintained a leading position in debt capital markets despite extremely tight conditions. Its advisory and distribution capabilities were instrumental in delivering a $2.2 billion dual-tranche Eurobond for the Federal Republic of Nigeria – where it served as joint lead manager and bookrunner alongside international investment banks. Notably, Chapel Hill Denham mobilised over $1 billion in domestic and regional institutional demand, helping the sovereign price intraday for the first time and tightly.
By combining local knowledge, digital enablement and stakeholder-first advisory, Chapel Hill Denham reinforced its role as a trusted partner to Nigeria’s top corporate, sovereign and retail clients. Its performance in 2024 confirms its position as the country’s premier investment banking firm.
Best digital bank 2025: Wema Bank
Wema Bank, home to Africa’s pioneering fully digital bank ALAT, has dramatically set the pace in digital banking in Nigeria.
ALAT offers a cutting-edge digital experience with features like seamless onboarding, automated savings, instant loans and a gamified experience that keeps users engaged.
Rapid adoption has been driven by expansion of its innovative Playground ecosystem and ALAT, which uses API-based banking-as-a-service solutions, leading to an impressive 150% increase in active digital users over the past year. These tools, alongside sophisticated AI and data analytics, improve predictive credit scoring, refine personalised product offerings, and enhance real-time customer support.
On the security front, Wema Bank has introduced facial biometric technology for crucial tasks such as onboarding, account upgrades, and high-value transactions, effectively replacing traditional one-time passwords and helping to reduce fraud incidents by 40%. The bank has excelled in employing AI-driven fraud detection systems, robust transaction monitoring, and endpoint detection, collectively facilitating an impressive 91% decrease in customer balance and transactional errors thanks to robotic process automation.
Complementing its tech innovations, Wema Bank has championed financial inclusion and literacy through several initiatives. Noteworthy among them is the launch of ‘Sara by Wema’, the Hackaholics Ideathon, and the FGN/ALAT Digital Skillnovation Programme. These initiatives are specially tailored to empower women, youth, and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by imparting valuable digital and financial skills. Significantly, Wema Bank facilitated approximately ₦7.6 billion ($5 million) in sales for nearly 3,000 women vendors and played a pivotal role in expanding market access.
With such comprehensive integration of digital technology, advanced infrastructure and impactful community programmes, Wema Bank has reaffirmed its status as Nigeria’s best digital bank.
Best bank for securities services 2025: Stanbic IBTC Bank
Stanbic IBTC Bank has positioned itself as Nigeria’s leader in securities services through significant advancements across various facets of the sector.
As the only Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-licensed securities lending agent in Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC has spearheaded innovations particularly in fund administration and securities lending.
The bank had marked a first in 2019 by commercially launching securities lending for equities, in 2024 it broadened its reach to include fixed-income assets such as FGN bonds and Treasury bills. Notably, it opened the securities lending market to foreign portfolio investors and pioneered the adoption of non-cash collateralisation in the form of sovereign securities, a significant leap forward in local market practices.
Stanbic IBTC Bank also boasts the largest custodial service in Nigeria, managing about 60% of the country’s non-pension assets. It employs the TCS BaNCS Global Securities Processing platform to provide robust custody, foreign exchange and settlement functionalities, ensuring daily reconciliations with the Central Securities Clearing System, the Financial Markets Dealers Quotations, and the Central Bank of Nigeria. Its Investor Services Online platform enhances client engagement by offering real-time access to custody portfolios, enabling trade initiation, and managing corporate actions efficiently.
Stanbic IBTC’s proactive regulatory engagement and strategic participation in market-shaping forums underline its pivotal role within the industry structure. Its approval as an SEC-sanctioned derivatives clearing participant and inclusion in the FMDQ Clear pilot highlight its capability in cross-asset expansion.
The bank is finalising internal processes to enhance its derivatives clearing, settlement and reporting systems, confirming its commitment to setting industry benchmarks in Nigeria’s financial markets.
Best bank for ESG 2025: First Bank of Nigeria
First Bank of Nigeria has established itself as a leader in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices with a comprehensive strategy that has a tangible environmental and social impact.
In 2024, the bank made significant strides by launching a climate action and decarbonisation strategy, which included planting 30,000 trees over three years, anticipated to absorb 720 tonnes of CO₂.
Additionally, it has strengthened its sustainable supply chain management, embedding stringent environmental and labour standards into procurement processes, whilst meticulously screening ₦3 trillion ($1.9 billion) in transactions for ESG risks under an advanced ESG risk management system.
Its commitment extends to an evolved ESG policy framework and initiatives that promote inclusive finance. Updated policies, like the Climate Engagement Strategy, are coherent with Nigeria’s net-zero objectives.
First Bank of Nigeria has been proactive in gender inclusion, notably through the Gender Market Strategy, and the FirstGem Fund. The bank provided ₦43 billion in loans to women-led businesses in 2024, marking an increase from ₦36 billion in the previous year. Additionally, over ₦9 trillion worth of transactions were facilitated via FirstMonie agents to bolster financial inclusion.
Alignment with international standards underscores the bank’s commitment to global best practices, adhering to the Equator Principles, IFC Performance Standards, UN Global Compact, and UN Women’s Empowerment Principles.
First Bank of Nigeria also prioritises internal education on ESG issues, evidenced by the training of 9,354 employees, and its webinars and workshops reaching over 2,000 SMEs and corporates. The bank’s investment in leadership for over 2,000 female employees through the FirstBank Women Network has demonstrated a dedicated structural commitment to cultivating a knowledgeable and diverse workforce catering to the dynamic ESG landscape.
Best bank for SMEs 2025: Stanbic IBTC Bank
Stanbic IBTC Bank has demonstrated exceptional performance in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria, marking it as a leader in this category.
In terms of innovation, Stanbic IBTC Bank has significantly improved its SME offerings through various initiatives. It introduced the Blue Blossom proposition, a service tailored for women-owned businesses, and SME Collab, which features a remarkable five-minute approval process for uncollateralised loans.
Additionally, the bank enhanced its BizSmart Plus service. By partnering with platforms like Wallz & Queen and upgrading its digital lending capabilities via Enterprise Online (EOL 3.0), the bank successfully reduced the loan turnaround time from one week to a few minutes.
Further facilitating SME growth, Stanbic IBTC Bank streamlined onboarding and relationship management processes. The introduction of a digital platform has enabled automated statement analysis, electronic Know Your Customer, and tiered documentation, thus significantly speeding up access to financial services.
Complementing these technological enhancements, the bank’s Enterprise Direct Centre and multilingual virtual business bankers ensure personalised services and inclusive engagement throughout Nigeria, positioning Stanbic IBTC as the frontrunner in servicing SMEs effectively.
Best bank for large corporates 2025: First Bank of Nigeria
First Bank of Nigeria has demonstrated exceptional prowess in enhancing its corporate client base and revenues, solidifying its position as Nigeria’s best bank for large corporates. Over the year, the bank achieved a significant 14% growth in its large corporate client base, from 614 to 701.
This is paired with an impressive 26% increase in average client revenue, progressing from ₦504 million ($0.33 million) to ₦633 million. This growth is not just a testament to effective client acquisition but also to the deepening of existing client relationships which bolster sustainable revenue enhancement.
Further strengthening its dominance, First Bank has excelled in digital innovation and transaction efficiency. Its FirstDirect platform processed transactions worth over ₦10.3 trillion in 2024, registering more than 4 million successful transactions. The platform has also seen a 101% growth in onboarding corporate users. This digital arm provides critical real-time cash and trade management solutions, liquidity services, and AI-driven insights beneficial to large corporations across five African nations, thereby enhancing both reach and operational efficiency.
The bank also sets industry benchmarks in sector-specific relationship management and client onboarding processes. It has curated specialised relationship management teams that spearheaded remarkable revenue spikes for key clients: Glomobile increasing by 81%, BUA by 56%, and a remarkable 636% for the Chagoury Group.
First Bank has integrated automated workflows and prioritised queues which expedite both onboarding and transaction handling, ultimately improving client satisfaction and operational transparency. These strategies underline First Bank’s commitment to providing tailored and efficient banking solutions to large corporates in Nigeria.
