Zenith Bank Plc has commissioned its branch in Paris, the capital of France.

The official commissioning, which took place at 21 Rue de la Paix in Paris on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, was performed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun.

The bank stated that the commissioning of a Third-Country Branch (TCB) of Zenith Bank (UK) Limited, a subsidiary of Zenith Bank Plc, represents a key milestone in the bank’s global growth strategy and underscores its commitment to serving clients in the European region.

Speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank, Dr Adaora Umeoji, thanked the Founder and Chairman, Dr Jim Ovia, for his inspiration and vision in setting up an award-winning and record-breaking brand.

Umeoji also highlighted the rationale for the bank’s strategic move to Paris, saying: “The opening of this Paris branch is part of the broad strategy of the Bank to extend its footprints across the major global financial centres and our efforts at following our customers’ businesses.

“Paris branch opening underpins the need to serve our customers and bolster trade and finance relationship between our customers in France and other countries.

“Zenith Bank’s expansion into France is a very strategic move as Nigeria accounts for 20% of France’s trade with Sub-saharan Africa according to the Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

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“Having successfully dominated large parts of Anglophone Africa, we will leverage Zenith Bank Paris operations to lead the Francophone market starting from Ivory Coast and Cameroun where we will be establishing subsidiaries very soon. This will facilitate business and trade flows between the African region and France, which is a major business partner to several African countries.”

On his part, Edun said: “I feel that one of the dividends of building trust for Nigerian institutions around the world is this event today, the opening of Zenith Bank in Paris.

“The presence of Zenith here can only help to engender trust of the French business community. They can learn about the opportunities in Africa, and of course, entry into Nigeria can be facilitated. We are happy and we are glad that we are all here to participate in this historic occasion.”

Dignitaries at the ceremony included Governors AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Dr Peter Mbah (Enugu).

Others were the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; and the Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu; among others.

The Star