By: Ajibade Morakinyo

It is always difficult to fill the big shoes of giants, and no doubt in the area of banking, Jim Ovia, the Chairman and Founder of Zenith Bank is certainly one.

Indeed, Ovia buit  Zenith Bank to such an enviable position that it became a household name. But Peter Olisamedua Amangbo, the current Group Managing Director/CEO of the bank has fit into the shoes of this giant of a man with effortless ease.

Many who know his story refer to him as a cerebral, consummate professional and technology savvy gentleman who has taken the bank to dizzying new heights since his assumption of office in 2014.

Amangbo has been able to ensure that integrity, professionalism, corporate governance and excellent customer service form the core of the banks DNA.

Today, Zenith has grown to become one of the strongest and most profitable banks on the African continent. It has about 440 branches, siting some branches in mid-tier locations which makes its retail business very solid.

In addition, Zenith has always been a technology-driven bank that thrives on innovation and under Amangbo, the management has invested heavily in didgital banking.

A 1998 graduate of Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Benin, Pater has several years of professional experience under his belt. Most of his years as a professional have been spent in the financial services sector, particularly in banking where he has acquired immense experience across key areas like operations, investment banking, corporate finance, credit & marketing, business development, as well as financial control and strategic planning.

He is also an alumnus of the Warwick Business School where he studied for a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree, graduating in 1995. He has participated in the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA).

Mr. Amangbo, before coming to the Zenith Bank, was a Senior Consultant at PriceWaterHouse (now PriceWaterHouseCoopers) – a Financial Service Group; where he had responsibilities in manufacturing, financial services and general commerce, but he only worked in the company for four years before joining Zenith Bank Plc in 1993. Since then, he has brought tremendous success to the table of the company’s board and many has been feasible.

Even while he served as the company’s Head of corporate & retail banking, as well as a Zonal Head in Lagos. He was known for his ability to devise means of coming with a viable solution to problems at hand.

As a result of his sterling work ethic, he was in 2005 appointed as the Executive Director of the bank. And in June 2014, he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the bank. Apart from his position as the CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, he currently serves as the company’s Group Managing Director. He is also a Non-Executive Director at Zenith Securities Limited, which is a subsidiary of Zenith Bank Plc. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Zenith Bank PLC Nigeria, Zenith Insurance Ltd, Nigeria, Zenith Pensions Ltd, Nigeria, Zenith Capital Ltd, Nigeria and Zenith Bank, UK and was a member of the board of Interswitch Nigeria Ltd from 2005 to 2007.

Strong earnings capacity and growth, solid and liquid capital base, strengthened enterprise risk management practices, good returns on investment and excellent customer service are some of the hallmarks of today’s Zenith Bank under the stewardship of Mr. Amangbo.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Mr. Amangbo has contributed immensely towards the development of Zenith Bank Plc, since his assumption of office in 2014. The figure below shows how the company’s financials have improved considerably over the past five years (of which he has been CEO for four of those years), with turnover increasing from some ₦311.2 billion in 2013 to ₦673.6 billion in 2017. Similarly, the company’s profit after tax surged from ₦83.4 billion in 2013 to ₦157.1 billion in 2017.

The company, under the leadership of Amangbo, continued the impressive success in 2018 by reporting gross earnings of ₦474.6 billion and a profit after of ₦144.1 billion.

His shareholding structure in the company is such that he holds five million (5,000,000) units of direct shares and two million, three hundred thousand (2.3 million) units of indirect shares. This brings his total shareholding in Zenith Bank to seven million, three hundred thousand (7.3 million). When calculated with the company’s share price of ₦24 as at November 12th 2018, this translates to a value of ₦175 million.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Mr. Amangbo has contributed immensely towards the development of Zenith Bank Plc, since his assumption of office in 2014. The figure below shows how the company’s financials have improved considerably over the past five years (of which he has been CEO for four of those years), with turnover increasing from some ₦311.2 billion in 2013 to ₦673.6 billion in 2017. Similarly, the company’s profit after tax surged from ₦83.4 billion in 2013 to ₦157.1 billion in 2017.

The company, under the leadership of Amangbo, continued the impressive success in 2018 by reporting gross earnings of ₦474.6 billion and a profit after of ₦144.1 billion.

He is also an alumnus of the Warwick Business School where he studied for a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree, graduating in 1995. He has participated in the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA).

He is a member of the Board of Directors of Zenith Bank PLC Nigeria, Zenith Insurance Ltd, Nigeria, Zenith Pensions Ltd, Nigeria, Zenith Capital Ltd, Nigeria and Zenith Bank, UK. He was a member of the board of Interswitch Nigeria Ltd from 2005 to 2007.

His achievement to Zenith Bank, the ever growing financial institution in Nigeria, is so rare in the space of Nigerian financial sector, and that is why we have chosen him as our Boss of the Week. Congrats Sir!