Who Is Adaora Umeoji? Meet The New Zenith Bank’s First Female GMD/CEO

Adaora Umeoji will take over as Zenith Bank Plc’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer on June 1, 2024. She will succeed Ebenezer Onyeagwu, whose five-year tenure as CEO ends on May 31, 2024. Zenith Bank made the announcement 19/03/2024 via a statement on its website.

The appointment is historic, as Adaora Umeoji becomes the bank’s first female GMD/CEO since its foundation in May 1990. According to a statement released by the bank, “her appointment is consistent with the bank’s executive transition tradition, succession plan, and strategy of grooming leaders from within.”

Adaora Umeoji has approximately 30 years of banking expertise, having previously worked as the bank’s deputy managing director, a position she assumed in October 2016. She has also worked at the bank for about 26 years.

Here are more things you should know about Adaora Umeoji:

Education

She has quite an impressive educational background.

She graduated from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme (AMP), as well as Columbia Business School’s Global Banking Certificate Programme.

She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Jos, a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, and a First-Class Honours in Law from Baze University in Abuja.

She also holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Calabar, and a doctorate in business administration from Apollos University in the United States.

She also holds a Certificate in Economics for Business from the MIT Sloan School of Management in the United States and has completed executive programmes in Strategic Management and Leading Global Business at Harvard Business School.

Fellowships and Professional Memberships:

Adaora Umeoji is a distinguished professional with several prestigious scholarships to her credit.

She is a member of the Chartered Banker Institute in the United Kingdom, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Management, the Institute of Credit Administration, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria, the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, and the Nigerian Institute of Secretaries and Administrators.

Honours and Awards:

The Federal Government of Nigeria bestowed upon her the rank of Officer of the Order of the Niger in 2022.

She was also designated a United Nations Peace Advocate (UN-POLAC).

In 2023, she earned the Sun Newspaper’s Humanitarian Service Icon Award in recognition of her charity work.

Philanthropic Activities:

She is the founder of two organizations – Pink Breathe Cancer Foundation and Adorable Foundation. The Pink Breath Cancer Care Foundation runs several healthcare programs every year across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. These programs aim to provide crucial medical care to people living with cancer and other illnesses. She also donates relief materials and offers free healthcare to internally displaced persons all over the country through various intervention initiatives.