Jim Ovia, founder and immediate past chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, says real estate has become a more profitable venture than banking, as the banking mogul increasingly turns his attention to luxury property developments in Lagos.
Ovia made the remark during an interview with Bloomberg at his 15th-floor office in Civic Towers, one of the landmark properties he developed on Lagos Island.
The comments come as the founder of one of Nigeria’s largest commercial banks, which reported a pre-tax profit of N1.26 trillion in 2025, is building the 26-floor Metropolitan Towers residential development, where units start at $1.85 million. He is also completing the 44-unit Quantum Luxury Towers high-rise development, where apartments are priced from $2.8 million.
Jim Ovia had an eye on real estate before now
Although he declined to disclose the value of the projects, the 74-year-old said the developments were attracting strong demand.
“Real estate is more profitable than banking,” Ovia said.
However, Ovia’s interest in real estate does not appear to be a newly discovered passion following his exit from the top of the banking industry after decades at the helm of Zenith Bank.
“Mr. Ovia’s interest in real estate started much earlier than just now,” Bloomberg quoted Jubril Enakele, Chief Executive Officer of IRON Capital Partners Ltd., who worked as a corporate banker at a Zenith Bank branch in Ikoyi in 2001.
“Zenith is still that bank that meticulously renovates their branches with glass cladding before it starts operations,” he added.
Real estate’s growing economic importance
Ovia’s remarks come against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding real estate sector in Nigeria.
Reports shows that real estate emerged as Nigeria’s third-largest economic sector following the rebasing of the country’s Gross Domestic Product by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the revised figures, the sector’s contribution rose from N10.5 trillion in 2023 under the previous GDP methodology to N30.7 trillion after rebasing. It subsequently increased to N41.3 trillion in 2024 and climbed further to N58.16 trillion in 2025, making it the country’s third-largest economic sector behind Crop Production and Trade.
Perhaps nowhere better reflects the growing value of real estate than Lagos, particularly the affluent Island axis where many multinational corporations maintain their headquarters.
According to Diya Fatimilehin & Co., one of Nigeria’s leading estate surveying firms, rents in Banana Island, Ikoyi and Victoria Island surged by 51 percent between 2024 and 2025.
Rising rents in Lagos are being driven by a combination of factors including inflation, escalating building material costs and surging demand, with the state’s population estimated at more than 20 million despite it being Nigeria’s smallest state by landmass.
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From Banking Titan to Property Mogul
It’s unclear whether Ovia’s days in banking are entirely behind him, considering he remains the largest individual shareholder in Zenith Bank.
Yet the record he established in the banking industry arguably eclipses any real estate investment he has undertaken.
Ovia founded Zenith Bank in 1990 with an initial capital base of about N20 million, equivalent to roughly $4 million at the time. Over the following decades, he transformed the institution from a startup lender into one of Nigeria’s most profitable and valuable banks.
He served as the bank’s chief executive officer for about two decades before becoming chairman, a position he occupied for 12 years until stepping down on May 5, 2026, after completing the maximum tenure permitted for bank chairmen under regulatory guidelines.
According to the bank’s 2025 audited financial statements, Zenith Bank posted a pre-tax profit of N1.26 trillion. Although this represented a 4.78% decline from the previous year, the lender began 2026 strongly, reporting an unaudited pre-tax profit of N360.92 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Today, Ovia is increasingly focused on reshaping Lagos’ luxury property market through Quantum Luxury Properties Ltd., betting that the city’s housing shortage and growing demand for premium residences will continue to support property values and investor returns.