Zenith Bank Plc has appointed Dame Adaora Umeoji as the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO), effective June 2024.
She is the first female to lead the bank.
Her appointment is, however, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Umeoji will take over from the current GMD, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, whose time in office expires on May 31.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Company Secretary, Michael Otu, which was filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Tuesday.
The statement reads in part: “Dame (Dr.) Adaora Umeoji is the first female GMD CEO since the inception of the bank, and her appointment is consistent with the bank’s executive transition tradition, succession plan, and strategy of grooming leaders from within.”
Before this appointment, Umeoji had been the Deputy Managing Director of the bank since October 28, 2016, and has close to 30 years of banking experience of which 26 years have been with Zenith Bank.
She holds multiple degrees, including a doctorate in Business Administration, and has completed prestigious programmes at Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, and MIT Management Sloan School.
She also holds a Master of Laws from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, a Master in Business Administration from the University of Calabar, and also has a doctorate in business administration from Apollos University, USA.