Nigeria’s Zenith Bank Plc has acquired 100 percent shareholding of Kenya’s Paramount Bank Limited, marking a significant expansion of the West African lender into East Africa’s banking sector.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announced the transaction, stating that the acquisition received regulatory approval on March 9, 2026, under the Banking Act, followed by further approval from Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning on March 16, 2026.
The deal will take effect upon completion in line with the agreement between the two parties.
Paramount Bank Limited, which traces its origins to Combined Finance Limited established in 1993, began operating as a commercial bank in 1995.
Over the years, the institution underwent several transitions, including a merger with Universal Bank in 2000 before eventually reverting to its current name in 2015.
The bank operates a network of seven branches, with four located in Nairobi and one each in Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret. It also runs a subsidiary, Paramount Bancassurance Intermediary Ltd, which distributes insurance products.
Zenith Bank Plc, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, is one of Africa’s largest banking institutions and is listed on both the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
The bank operates over 450 branches across Nigeria and has a growing international presence spanning West Africa, the United Kingdom, and representative offices in France and the United Arab Emirates.
The acquisition signals Zenith Bank’s strategic push into East Africa, a region increasingly attracting cross-border banking investments as financial institutions seek growth beyond their domestic markets.
In its statement, the Central Bank of Kenya welcomed the transaction, noting that it is expected to support stability, strengthen resilience in the Kenyan banking sector, and enhance competition.
The deal underscores a broader trend of consolidation and regional expansion within Africa’s banking industry, as lenders position themselves to capture new markets and diversify revenue streams.
Zenith Bank audited full-year 2025 results show gross earnings of ₦4.19 trillion and profit after tax of ₦1.04 trillion, even as the Group executed a deliberate cleanup of regulatory forbearance-linked exposures.
With Nigeria’s banking sector under mounting capital and macroeconomic pressure, Zenith’s 2025 scorecard signals disciplined execution, strengthened asset quality, and confidence in long-term growth, as the continent’s financial markets demand more from their anchor institutions.
Resilience, Reset, and Record Returns
Additional reporting by TechCabal shows that On 7 April 2026, Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s financial flagship and one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most closely watched lenders, released its audited Group results for the year ended 31 December 2025.
The headline numbers tell a story of resilience: gross earnings of ₦4.19 trillion, profit after tax of ₦1.04 trillion, and total assets crossing ₦31 trillion. The more telling story lies beneath, in the strategic choices that shaped those outcomes.
For African markets, where the banking sector’s health is a barometer of broader economic stability, Zenith’s results carry weight beyond shareholder returns.
The bank’s deliberate write-off of forbearance-linked facilities reduced earnings per share by 23% to ₦25.32; however, the bank simultaneously improved its asset quality, reducing its Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio from 4.7% to 3.8% and signalling a clean slate for 2026.
The results arrive at a pivotal moment for Nigerian and African banking, marked by a high-interest-rate environment, persistent inflation, shifting capital requirements, and growing investor scrutiny on governance quality.
Zenith’s 2025 performance must be read against that landscape: not merely as a financial statement, but as a strategic declaration.
One trillion reasons to pay attention
Here is the number that commands the room:
Debt, SGR and Uganda Airlines: How Government Will Spend UGX 17.4 Trillion in Q4₦4.19 trillion in gross earnings, a 6% increase year-on-year from ₦3.97 trillion in 2024.
A milestone that cements Zenith’s position among the continent’s most capitalised financial institutions.
Growth has rarely come without trade-offs. Profits before tax fell 5% to ₦1.26 trillion.
A direct consequence of the bank’s decision to clean out regulatory forbearance-linked loan exposures that had accumulated across prior cycles.
This was not a failure of performance; it was, by the bank’s own framing, a strategic reset, one that cost the bank in the short term but significantly strengthened the quality of its balance sheet.
Non-interest income contracted sharply by 63%, from ₦1.10 trillion to ₦404.9 billion, signalling a shift in revenue composition toward interest-driven earnings in a high-rate environment.
The message from Dame Dr Adaora Umeoji, Group Managing Director/CEO, was unequivocal:
“Our 2025 results are a reflection of the discipline and focus with which we executed our strategy. We successfully strengthened our asset quality, optimised our balance sheet, and invested in the capabilities that will propel our next phase of growth.”
Behind the numbers: What the data really says
Zenith’s 2025 results are a study in how strategic priorities shape financial outcomes.
Net interest income surged 53% to ₦2.64 trillion.
Anchored by a 35% rise in interest income to ₦3.67 trillion, powered by high asset yields, expanded interest-earning assets, and disciplined liability pricing.
Net Interest Margin expanded from 11.7% to 13.7%, a 17% improvement that underscores the bank’s ability to maintain healthy spreads between lending and funding costs.
Cost of funds declined from 4.8% to 4.2%.
Cost of risk improved from 7.3% to 6.7%, indicating efficiency in the bank’s risk and liability management.
Customer deposits grew 11% to ₦24.33 trillion, fuelled by increases in both corporate and retail deposits, a critical vote of confidence from Zenith’s expanding customer base.
Shareholders’ funds expanded by 22% to ₦4.92 trillion.
Capital Adequacy Ratio stood at 25.3%, above the regulatory minimum.
Zenith Bank Plc is a major Nigerian financial services provider with a significant international presence, particularly across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, the bank operates over 500 branches in its home market and has expanded its footprint through subsidiaries and representative offices.
International Presence and Subsidiaries
United Kingdom: Zenith Bank UK Limited has branches in London and a recently commissioned branch in Manchester in March 2026 to facilitate corporate banking and trade finance within the UK Africa corridor.
West Africa: The bank has established subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia.
Representative Offices: The bank maintains representative offices in South Africa, China, and the United Arab Emirates.
Global Expansion and Strategy
Expansion initiatives continue to shape the bank’s long-term positioning, with recent moves including strengthening its European presence and planning further entries into other African markets.
Global recognition reinforces that trajectory. The bank is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is ranked among the top Tier 1 capital banks in Africa.
