In an interview with CNN’s Melissa Bell, Group Managing Director & CEO of Zenith Bank, Adaora Umeoji discusses what the opening of their outpost in France, the first in the European Union, means for their customers and their business as a whole.
“We saw the need for our customers quests to actually have a representation outside Nigeria, as their businesses are expanding, and for us that Zenith Bank, we don’t want to just be a local bank, we want to be a global brand, so we felt there’s a need for us to actually move into Europe as a hub where most African business people, as well as European business people, to be able to foster trade relationship for both of them and to be able to harness their opportunities.”
She continues on Paris as the prime location for this opportunity, “Paris especially is a major economic hub. They have a strong economy and we know they play a pivotal role to the EU countries as well as Africa Francophone countries. So, we felt coming here will help to improve business relationship between the two countries as well as business relationship between […] most of our diaspora Nigerians that live here. They need that opportunity to be able to have a bank that understands them, that will promote their business and help them grow.”
On having European clients:
“The business is not just for Nigerian businesses or diaspora, it’s for European business counterparts that want to actually taste the kind of service we have because we are known for quality service and exceptional customer retention – from the French economy to the Nigerian, there it is facing a number of difficulties right now.”
On the business environment needed for banks to thrive:
“The Nigerian government have created the enabling environment for businesses to thrive. They try to see how they can at least reduce taxes to make ease of doing business better for Nigeria, for investors that come into Nigeria and make it easy as well for them to be able to take their funds out.”
“The CBN has harmonized the exchange rates. We have just one single window now for exchange rates. And they are bringing a lot of incentives that will attract investors to invest in Nigeria. And the Nigerian government is doing a lot in that regard too so I feel we are working on it. We are very conscious. The economy is growing and Nigeria is a hub for investors now.”
On the tariff’s Trump’s presidency could bring in:
“One thing that African continent is known for is their resilience. So the tax he’s bringing in, all those incentives he’s bringing in for us, it creates an opportunity for us because we have a lot of products that we can actually export. The American government does not have everything they need other countries to actually survive.”
