Zenith Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading financial institutions has opened a branch in Paris, France.
The branch was unveiled yesterday, Wednesday, November 27, 2024 and had in attendance board members and top management of the bank, as well as leading lights of the Nigerian business ecosystem.
The bank described the development as a “significant milestone in the strategic extension of our footprints across the globe, facilitating seamless international transactions.”
With this move, Zenith Bank joins Access Bank, which opened a branch in Paris in May 2023. Access Bank’s business in France would however, according to RFI, be “overseen by the group’s British subsidiary, “’so it’s a start in terms of support and direct facilitation of business coming from France to Africa”, according to Wigwe.’”
Zenith Bank’s Chairman and Founder Jim Ovia and former CEO Ebenezer Onyeagwu had teased the news in January this year when they told The Africa Report that Zenith was positioning itself to “tap into the thriving European market post-Brexit,”
Noting that Brexit had made France strategic, Jim Ovia told TAR that “investors – whether in Nigeria or elsewhere – who want to set up a Europe-facing business will avoid London: “They will want to set up in Europe, and France is the obvious choice,”
The new office in Paris will leverage “existing Zenith Bank offices in the UK, Asia and African subsidiaries” and “contribute to enhancing inter and intra Africa trade, thereby expanding opportunities for African businesses across the globe.”
Post the formal ceremony, Zenith Bank treated guests to cocktails at The Ritz Paris, at 15 Pl. Vendome, Paris.
