Caption: From left, Group Managing Director/CEO, Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu; French Minister for Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Mr. Olivier Becht; Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, and French Ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French Government for the establishment of a subsidiary in France, recently.

As part of further broadening its international operations, Zenith Bank Plc on Monday said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French Government to establish a subsidiary in Paris, the capital of France.
The MoU, which was signed by the founder and chairman of the bank , Jim Ovia, and the French Minister for Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Olivier Becht on Friday, November 24, 2023, will enable Zenith Bank, through its wholly owned UK subsidiary, seek and secure the requisite regulatory approval from the Autorite’ de Controle Prudentiel et de Resolution (ACPR) to establish a strategic presence in France.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Ovia expressed great pleasure and delight at the signing of this MoU with France, describing it as an honour, while looking “forward to securing the licence and starting operations in early 2024″. 
He appreciated the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann and her colleagues at the French Embassy in Nigeria for their efforts towards improving French-Nigerian business relations.
Also speaking, the French Minister for Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Olivier Becht thanked Zenith Bank for the decision to open a branch in Paris.
“We are thrilled to welcome in France Zenith Bank’s first office inside the European Union. For us, that’s a very good signal, and it is undoubtedly a demonstration of mutual confidence. No doubt also that your vision on international finance guided you to decide to open this branch and this decision in many respects can also be regarded as a milestone in French-Nigerian economic relations and an illustration of our friendship,” he added. 
He assured that the government of President Macron had adopted a pro-business agenda in order to make France more attractive by undertaking several reforms in labour law, simplifying a lot of procedures and cutting business taxes, corporate taxes and production taxes by more than 25 billion Euros.
The French Minister expressed hope that the opening of the branch of Zenith Bank in France will also be an occasion to boost the French-Nigerian business in order to have more French companies investing in Nigeria and also to have more Nigerian companies investing in France”.