Jim Ovia Biography
Obi Olihe of the Agbor family Obi’s includes Jim Ovia, the family’s second son. His father was widely considered one of the most powerful chiefs in Delta State’s Agbor Kingdom.
Jim Ovia Age
Jim James Ovia is a Nigerian businessman who lives in the Delta State town of Agbor. On November 4, 1951, he was born. In 1990, he founded Zenith Bank.
Jim Ovia Education
After he finished his basic education in Delta State, he went to the well-known Ika Grammar School in Bojiboji-Owa to finish his secondary education.
Jim Ovia earned his Master of Business Administration degree in 1979 from the University of Louisiana in Monroe, Louisiana, USA.
Prior to that, he received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA (1977). In addition, he graduated from Harvard Business School (OPM).
Jim Ovia Wife
Jim is married to Kay Ovia, the managing director and CEO of Quantum Markets Ltd.
Jim Ovia Zenith Bank PLC
Jim Ovia was named the “Godfather of Banking” by Forbes Africa for his accomplishments in founding Nigeria’s most successful bank. Zenith Bank now has approximately $16 billion in assets disbursed over over 300 locations in Nigeria. Furthermore, the bank has a key worldwide presence in the UK, Dubai, China, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia.
The Banker ranked Zenith Bank 325th in the world in their 2016 ranking of the Top 1000 World Banks. He has consistently promoted a high level of corporate governance throughout the Bank, which resulted in the institution receiving a $850 million GDR listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2013.
In 2017, the Bank launched a 500 million dollar Eurobond, which was four times oversubscribed and priced higher than the corresponding home nation sovereign bond.
Jim Ovia Net worth
Jim Ovia is one of Nigeria’s wealthiest bankers, ranking among the top ten. He not only founded Zenith Bank, but he is also the organization’s only shareholder at this moment.
Jim Ovia also owns the over 15-story Civic Towers, which are worth billions of naira and are spread across the country, in addition to the Lagos Marriott Hotel and the Aquamarine Boat Club.
Jim Ovia is estimated to have a net worth of $550 million at the moment, according to Forbes. As Chairman of Prudential Zenith Life Assurance Limited, he led the historic collaboration between Prudential UK, one of the world’s largest life insurance firms, and Zenith Life, Nigeria’s fastest growing life insurance business.
Zenith Life is the market leader in Nigeria right now. He is now the chairman and the principal shareholder of Zenith General Insurance Limited, which is known as Nigeria’s most profitable general insurance firm.
Jim Ovia is a big supporter of distinctive architecture, and he planned and built the Aquamarine Boat Club and the Civic Center to leverage Nigeria’s growing hotel industry.
In close proximity to this edifice, he built the Civic Towers, a 15-story office complex known colloquially as Nigeria’s “Empire State Building.” He established Cyberspace Limited to provide internet services as well as Visafone Communications Limited to provide telecom services.
Jim Ovia’s motive for doing so stemmed from the potential significance of technology in the Nigerian economy. The latter was purchased by MTN, Africa’s largest telecoms operator, in 2015 for an undisclosed sum.
Multiple governments have recognized Jim Ovia’s effect on the Nigerian economy, and in appreciation of this, he was awarded the titles of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2000 and Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) in 2011.
Jim Ovia has degrees from the Office of Professional Management at Harvard Business School, the University of Louisiana’s MBA program, and Southern University in Louisiana (B.Sc.).
Jim Ovia Scandal with CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, and Jim Ovia, Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, have been embroiled in a major tax evasion scandal in Europe as a result of revelations that they most likely avoided paying approximately £11 million in value-added tax while importing luxury jets into the European Union. This announcement came as a result of the discovery that they most likely did not pay the tax.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, the two individuals are among a number of notable people throughout the world accused of utilizing bogus leasing schemes to avoid paying VAT on planes transported into the EU.
Over 380 journalists from 96 media organizations in 67 countries examined leaked data obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of International Journalists (ICIJ) from two offshore secrecy providers (Appleby and Asiaciti Trust) and 19 secrecy jurisdictions worldwide.
This resulted in the discoveries that have since come to light.
The 1.4 gigabytes of information known as the “Paradise Papers” constitute one of the most important data breaches in history. This data leak affects 13.4 million individuals.
