Leading in Africa: UBA to expand footprint to 25 African countries

Group Chairman Elumelu reconfirms Africa

network as strategic priority, pledges further capital for African growth

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 provide d 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.

UBA reported strong financial results in 2015, in

what is largely recognized as a challenging macro

environment. Gross earnings were N315bn whilst

operating profits stood at almost N70bn. UBA

Africa operations currently contribute

approximately 25% of these earnings but are

expected to grow significantly and over time

contribute as much as 50% to overall Group

profitability.