UBA’s growth expansion drive targets 25 African countries

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group is exploring the possibility of expanding its footprint to 25 African countries including North, East, and West Africa with specific attention to the  Kenya region.

Currently, UBA subsidiaries operate in 18 African countries and contribute more than 25 percent to Group operating revenue.

Tony Elumelu, Group chairman, has reconfirmed Africa network as strategic priority and pledged further capital injection for African growth, specifically in East African operations.

Elumelu convened the first ever senior leadership 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.

“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”, Elumelu said at the forum.

Meanwhile, Profit After Tax (PAT) of the bank rose to N16.986 billion in the first quarter of 2016 from N16.956 billion in the corresponding period of 2015. Phillips Oduoza, group managing director/CEO of the bank said 28 percent of the group’s profit came from African subsidiaries, as at March 2016.

Oduoza noted that some of the banks’ subsidiaries are becoming less dependent on the head office. Its target is to grow 50 percent from Africa and 50 percent from Nigeria.

UBA is increasingly recognised as a strong pan-African brand, hailed for democratising banking in its countries of operation, whilst participating in landmark financial transactions.

The transactions include, a US$31.2 billion oil financing agreement with NNPC and Chevron, where UBA will provide funding for Chevron and NNPC to develop 36 new oil wells that will significantly expand Nigeria’s oil production capacity.

Another transaction was a $315 million facility to the government of Ghana for road projects on the strength of road fund levies domiciled with UBA Ghana.

There is also the $250 million Crude pre-payment facility for  the 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.

There was a 234 million Euro oil and gas financing deal with SociétéAfricaine de Raffinage (SAR) of Senegal, a  USD $180 million to Delta Energy Zambia for the procurement and supply of petroleum products to marketing companies in Zambia, a US$90m University of Dakar hostel construction project financed solely by UBA Senegal – African capital, building African infrastructure for African education and a USD$1.2 billion oil financing 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.

Speaking at the forum, FoganSossah, chairman of UBA Senegal, said “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 a 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”.

Commenting on the importance of consolidating pan-African financial expertise and exporting the successful Nigerian model, incoming group managing director/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.”

Speaking on the breadth and depth of the Forum’s individual sessions, 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 realise their business goals.”

Noting the difficulties that exist in operating in the diverse economic environments across the African continent,  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.”

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE