Net Worth: $980 million Jim Ovia is a Nigerian businessman. He founded Zenith Bank in 1990. He served as CEO until 2010, when he moved into the chairman role. He was the recipient of a Nigerian national honor. During two decades of leadership, he helped position the bank as one of the largest and most profitable in Africa. Ovia is the founder of Visafone Communications Limited and the chairman of both the Nigerian Software Development Initiative (NSDI) and the National Information Technology Advisory Council (NITAC). He is a member of the Honorary International Investor Council as well as the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). He is the Chairman of Cyberspace Network Limited.

Education

The Jim Ovia Scholars programme, founded in 1998, provides aid to outstanding students during undergraduate and graduate study. The Jim Ovia ICT Entrepreneurs programme provides funding to the most promising five to 10 ideas a year, through a competitive bid process. The Jim Ovia Foundation has funded 1,500 scholarships totalling N100m ($200,000) since 2010, and supports IT skills programmes for marginalised young people, working with partners such as IBM and Google.