The
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group recently held its first ever Senior
Leadership Forum reflecting the strategic importance
and growth potential of its pan-African business. UBA Group Chairman
Mr. Tony O. Elumelu convened the Forum to review the impressive growth
that the bank’s African network had made over the past 11 years and to
provide a platform to reaffirm and embolden its
strategic goals.
The Forum brought together 90 participants, including the entire Board of UBA, all Chairmen and all CEOs of UBA subsidiaries
across Africa and the United Kingdom. It was timed to coincide with UBA’s Annual General Meeting and Group Board Meeting.
“We
are one bank, the United Bank for Africa", Mr. Elumelu said as he
opened the Forum. “Bringing together our senior leadership
talent from across the continent and the distinguished leaders who
chair our subsidiary businesses is a powerful demonstration of our
commitment to forge one bank for Africa.”
“As
long-term investors and, may I say, pioneers in pan-African commercial
and investment banking, we are deeply committed to
the markets in which we operate and to harnessing the potential
represented by the wider African economy. Our intention is to be the
leader in African financial services, and our recent transactions show
this. We see clearly the potential of Africa” said Mr.
Elumelu.
UBA
subsidiaries operate in 18 African countries and now contribute more
than 25 per cent to Group operating revenue. UBA is
increasingly recognized as a strong pan-African brand, hailed for
democratising banking in its countries of operation whilst participating
in landmark financial transactions, including:
·
A USD$1.2 billion oil financing agreement with NNPC and Chevron where UBA provided
funding for Chevron and NNPC to develop 36 new oil wells that will significantly expand Nigeria’s oil production capacity
·
A
USD $315 million facility to the Government of Ghana for road projects
on the strength of Road Fund levies domiciled with UBA Ghana
·
A
US$250 million Crude pre-payment facility for Democratic Republic of
Congo-based Orion Oil representing the largest reported transaction
structured
by an African investment bank in 2015 involving fresh capital within
the African market.
·
A
234 million Euro oil and gas financing deal with Société Africaine de
Raffinage (SAR) of Senegal, which underscored its capacity to fund big
ticket transactions across Africa
·
A USD $180 million to Delta Energy Zambia for the procurement and supply of petroleum products to marketing companies in Zambia
·
A
USD$90m University of Dakar hostel construction project financed solely
by UBA Senegal – African capital, building African infrastructure for
African education
“We
have done a lot but in many senses we are only beginning to reap the
rewards of our network and potential. We are a truly
pan-African institution and after this period of consolidation, we know
that the continuing expansion of our Africa footprint is a key goal. We
must ensure that we have presence in at least 25 countries in the near
to medium term, starting from the UMOA and
CEMAC zones,” said Mr. Fogan Sossah, Chairman of UBA Senegal during the
Forum.
In
keeping with the objective of creating an institution worthy of the
patronage of clients and the trust of regulators and governments,
the three day forum focused on the critical issues and drivers for
success across the continent. Seminars were held on Corporate
Governance, Corporate Institutionalisation, Board Effectiveness,
Compliance, Accountability and more.
Speaking
on the breadth and depth of the Forum’s individual sessions, Mrs.
Gisele Mudiay, Chairman of UBA Democratic Republic
of Congo said: “! Our aspiration for the next five years is to pool
knowledge of our individual operating environments and leverage that
knowledge to help our customers realize their business goals.”
Noting
the difficulties that exist in operating in the diverse economic
environments across the African continent, Mr. Ekoto
Mukete, Chairman UBA Cameroon said: “While we operate in challenging
business environments, we benchmark ourselves against global standards,
which means we are able to add real value to our stakeholders. This
forum has ensured that we are an army of one, working
in each corner of Africa and driving toward one common goal.”
The
approval of additional injection of capital into its East African
subsidiaries in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania was communicated
at the forum as the group re-affirmed its committment to growth in its
countries of operations across the continent.
Commenting
on the importance of consolidating pan-African financial expertise and
exporting the successful Nigerian model, incoming
Group MD/CEO and previous head of UBA Africa, Kennedy Uzoka said: “I
have experienced the potential of our pan-African businesses. I know
that we can and I commit to ensuring our leadership across Africa. The
Senior Leadership Forum reaffirms UBA’s ambition
to be the leading pan-African Bank across key indices – brand equity,
human capital, customer service and profitability.”
Other
items on the agenda at the forum included Know Your Customer (KYC) and
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies and compliance
standards across the Group. The Group Compliance Officer Uche Ike
stated that “compliance is non-negotiable. We operate as a global bank,
in global centres. We have seen how swiftly internationally and within
Africa banks have lost hard earned reputations
through laxity in policy compliance and we will not tolerate this in
UBA Group“.
The Forum coincided with the 54th Annual General Meeting of UBA(where participants were also able to celebrate the Bank’s strong
financial performance) as the week long activities culminated in the dedication of staff at the annual UBA CEO awards ceremony.
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