A cursory look at tier one banks christened FUGAZ (First Bank, UBA, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank ) shows Zenith Bank, has the lowest number of females on its board for the financial year ended 2016. The bank has just one female board member Ms Adaora Umeoji who was appointed Deputy Managing Director (DMD) in October 2016. Chief Mrs Chinyere Asika who was previously on the board retired in 2015.
Background to the policy
A former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had in April 2014 put in place a policy stating that at least 30% of the board seats of Nigerian banks will be held by women. 40% of senior management positions were also to be held by women. In addition, banks were also mandated to publish their gender positions in their annual reports. That is the ratio of male to female staff.
| Bank | Number of board members as at FY 2016 | Number of female board members |
| Diamond | 11 | 3 |
| Stanbic Ibtc | 10 | 3 |
| Unity Bank | 15 | 5 |
| GT Bank | 16 | 4 |
| Zenith Bank | 13 | 1 |
| Access Bank | 5 | 4 |
| FBN Holdings | 12 | 3 |
| UBA Plc | 19 | 3 |
| Union Bank | 16 | 4 |
| FCMB | 10 | 0 |
| Sterling Bank | 16 | 3 |
| Wema Bank | 12 | 4 |
| Ecobank | 12 | 2 |
Skye bank was excluded because it is yet to release its audited reports for 2016.
Why some banks have not embraced the policy
The CBN policy offers no sanction for failing to meet the gender requirements. The banks may also be having difficulty in recruiting qualified women to their boards.
Zenith bank recently released its HY 2017 results. Gross earnings increased from N214 billion in 2016 to N338 billion in 2017. Pre tax profit also increased from N52.9 billion in 2016 to N92.1 billion in 2017. Zenith bank’s shares closed at N22.80 in today’s trading session on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
