… at ThisDay’s 25th anniversary
THISDAY Board of Editors has announced in Lagos, winners of the newspaper’s awards for the decade in commemoration of its 25th anniversary.
There are 24 winners in all, two in each of the 12 categories. The board noted that whereas the editor’s choices were based on the strength of industry knowledge and professional advice, the people’s choices were based on readers’ votes and perception.
Zenith Bank
Zenith was voted by the people as the bank of the decade.
Indeed Zenith Bank Plc was recognised as having continued to blaze the trail in digital banking in Nigeria; scoring several firsts in the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to create innovative products that meet the needs of its teeming customers. The bank is verifiably a leader in the deployment of various channels of banking technology, and the Zenith brand has become synonymous with the deployment of state-of-the-art technologies in banking. The financial institution is driven by a culture of excellence and strict adherence to global best practices.
Dangote Group
Dangote, a proudly Nigerian brand is the most diversified and largest conglomerate in West Africa and one of the largest in the continent. Dangote Cement, a member of the group is the most capitalised company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Dangote is expected to deliver its 650,000 barrels per day capacity crude oil refinery with the world’s tallest atmospheric tower next year. The activities of the group impacted on the economy in several ways in the last decade. It is the people’s choice for the company of the decade.
NLNG
The Nigeria LNG Limited is the most significant arrow-head of the federal government’s quest to eliminate gas flaring and derive value from the country’s 187 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves. Its recent Final Investment Decision on the Train 7 project, is expected to be a game-changer for the country as it would deliver a significant local content in construction, production of cables, welding, valves, scaffolding, furniture, painting and medical, is expected to generate about 12,000 jobs. The Train 7 project, which has been delayed for over 10 years, aims to increase the company’s production capacity from 22 metric tonnes per annum to about 30 MTPA, and will form part of the investment of over $10 billion, including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, according to the company. It emerged the editors’ choice for company of the decade.
Globacom
Globacom, which is the second largest telecoms operator in the country by subscriber number, has made data connectivity a lot easier and cheaper, which earned it the name, The Grand Master of Data. With 27.90 per cent market share and with a subscriber base of over 50 million, Globacom has remained the second largest telecoms operator in the country. Globacom, which is the only indigenous telecoms company operating in Nigeria, launched its services in 2003 with per second billing system, which eventually cut down the high cost of telecoms services offering, at a time when other operators were offering services on per minute basis. Globacom is the people’s choice of brand of the decade.
GTBank
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) is one of the leading financial institutions. The GTBank is one of the leading brands in the country because of its consistent delivery of innovative financial solutions and exceptional customer experiences. This has enabled it to record year on year growth in clientele base and key financial indices since inception. The editors chose it as their brand of the decade.
Access Bank
Since its business combination deal with the defunct Diamond Bank, Access Bank has emerged as a leading financial power house in the country. The bank is now looking beyond Nigeria and seeks to expand its footprint in Africa with its latest acquisition of the Transnational Bank Limited of Kenya and announcement of plan to set up a subsidiary in Cameroun, in the coming days. Presently Access Bank boasts of being among the five largest banks in Nigeria in terms of assets size, deposits, loans and branch network. It got the editors’ nod as the bank of the decade.