Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Chief Executive Officer, Zenith Bank Plc. is the highest-paid indigenous CEO in Nigeria. He received a sum of N246 million as a salary in 2021, 6.97 percent higher than the N230 million received in 2020.
TechEconomy understands that amongst the top 10 earning CEOs in Nigeria listed by Nairametrics, Onyeagwu ranked 6th and was the only Nigerian-born decision-maker on the list.
Zenith Bank Plc. announced his appointment as the Group Managing Director/CEO of the bank on June 1, 2019.
Here are the top 10 earning CEOs, according to Nairametrics:
1.Michel Puchercos (Dangote Cement) – N531 million
2. Roger Brown (Seplat Energy) – N475 million
3. Mr. Karl Toriola (MTN Nigeria) – N368 million
4. Mr. Ravindra Singhvi (Dangote Sugar) – N289.7 million
5. Mr Khaled Abdel Aziz El Dokani (Lafarge Africa) – N288.6 million
6. Ebenezer Onyeagwu (Zenith Bank) – N246 million
7. Hans Essaadi/ Jordi Borrut Bel (Nigerian Breweries) – N243.1 million
8. Baker Magunda (Guinness Nigeria) – N243 million
9. Carl Cruz (Unilever Nigeria) – N231.6 million
10. Wassim Elhusseini (Nestle Nigeria) – N206.4 million
About Ebenezer Onyeagwu
Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu is a vastly experienced banker and financial expert, trained in reputable institutions of learning in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Mr. Onyeagwu is a graduate of Accounting from Auchi Polytechnic where he obtained the Ordinary National diploma in 1984 and Higher National Diploma in 1987. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989 while he was still undergoing the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) post-graduation and was named a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) in 2003.
He is an alumnus of the prestigious University of Oxford, England, from where he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Strategy and a certificate in Macroeconomics. He also undertook extensive executive-level business education at Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School of Columbia University, the Harvard Business School of Harvard University (all in the United States), and Lagos Business School of the Pan African University, Nigeria.
He has nearly 30 years of experience in the banking industry in Nigeria. He joined Zenith Bank Plc in 2002 as a Senior Manager, in the bank’s Internal Control and Audit Group.
His professionalism, competence, integrity, and commitment to the set objectives of the bank saw him rise swiftly between 2003 and 2005, first, as Assistant General Manager, then Deputy General Manager, and eventually as General Manager of the bank.
In these capacities, he handled strategies for new business and branch development, management of risk assets portfolios, treasury functions, and strategic top-level corporate, multinational, and public institutional relationships, among others.
As Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Onyeagwu has oversight over the bank’s Financial Control and Strategic Planning, Risk Management, Retail Banking, Institutional and Corporate banking business portfolios, IT Group, Credit Administration, Treasury, and Foreign Exchange Trading, as well as general administration of the bank, among others.
He was named Executive Director of the bank in 2013 and put in charge of Lagos and South-South Zones as well as strategic groups/business units of the bank including Financial Control & Strategic Planning, Treasury and Correspondent Groups, Human Resources Group, Oil and Gas Group, and Credit Risk Management Group, etc. He was named Deputy Managing Director of the bank in 2016.
Mr. Onyeagwu has been on the board of Zenith Bank Ghana, Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, Zenith Nominees Limited, and African Finance Corporation (AFC) for the last six years. In AFC, he serves on the Board Risk & Investment Committee (BRIC) and Board Audit & Compliance Committee (BAAC). At Zenith Bank Ghana, he chairs the Board Credit and Governance Committees.
