Foremost Nigerian commercial bank, Sterling Bank, have been crowned champions at the recently concluded Nigerian Bankers Games.
The Sterling Jets, the bank’s football team, beat First Bank of Nigeria in the final game of the football tournament by a solitary goal to become the top footballing team in the Nigerian banking industry.
The Sterling Jets kicked off their campaign with a two-goal victory over FCMB, beating Wema Bank, Keystone, Fidelity and First Bank in the group stages. The Sterling Jets then played First Bank again in the final game at the Yaba College of Technology sports complex to be crowned the champions.
The victory follows an eventful and successful year across many fronts for the famed one-customer bank in 2022, with the bank being named the Best Bank in Nigeria in an independent survey by AFRINVEST as well as the best participating bank in the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund. The agricultural sector is one of the strategic pillars of the bank’s HEART strategy, with the remaining being Health, Education, Renewable Energy and Transportation.
Sterling Bank was also recently named the Overall Best Place To Work in Nigeria, Large Corporates category, for the fifth straight year by the Great Place To Work Institute along with having a dominating representation at the recent induction of members at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) ceremony.
This was followed by a young talent of the bank, Ayodeji Saba, being awarded the Next Generation Banker award, also awarded by the CIBN.
Sterling’s commercial performance has also been worthy of note with the bank’s profit-after-tax for the period of Q3 2022 rising by over 41% above 2021 numbers. This continued trajectory of solid growth and performance across many indices has seen a positive outlook being maintained for the bank by multiple rating bodies despite the challenging macro environment of the Nigerian economy.
Prior to this victory, Sterling’s footballing pedigree has been recently exhibited with the lender signing the largest kit sponsorship deal by a private company in Nigerian football history with a N 50 Million deal inked with the prestigious Bendel Insurance Football Club.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
