Businessday’s Bank Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) of the Year is suave, charismatic and visionary; a crème de la crème banker under whose watch United Bank for Africa (UBA) has created new milestones. He is none other than Kennedy Uzoka.
Uzoka, the recipient of the seventh Businessday Banks’ & Other Financial Institutions Award (BAFI) Bank CEO of the Year, was recognized for the quantum leap seen at UBA since he became Group Managing Director/ceo of the big lender.
A Professional Member, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, and an honorary member of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria since 2012, Uzoka’s banking career spans over two decades covering core banking, corporate marketing, strategic business advisory services and resources management.
In August of 2016, Uzoka was appointed as UBA’S GMD/CEO from his previous capacity as Executive Director where he had served for six years.
The same year Uzoka took over as Group CEO, UBA was able to see a turnaround, especially in its financial position with credit in part to the previous leadership.
In 2016, UBA reversed a 0.4 percent decline from the previous year to grow total asset by 27.3 percent to N3.5 trillion. The bank also grew customer deposit by 19.4 percent to N2.49 trillion after a 4 percent crunch in the year before.
Net loans expanded by 45.2 percent to N1.51 trillion naira, an improvement from a -3.3 percent decline in 2015.
UBA also grew its shareholders’ fund by 34.7 percent to N4.48 billion in the period.
The strong growth trajectory has been maintained since that time, seen in the subsequent performance of the UBA group under Uzoka.
From 2016 till June 2019 total asset has surged 43 percent to N5.01 trillion while it has grown shareholders fund by 16.87 percent to N542.46 billion in the same period.
In the first half of 2019, UBA grew profit by the most among Nigeria’s tier–one banks except Access Bank which is reaping fruits of its merger with Diamond Bank.
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UBA grew by 29.55 percent compared to an average of 6.21 percent by two of the other big banks (excluding Access Bank and another tier-one lender that pared profit).
The share price of UBA has grown from under N6 per share before his appointment as GMD/CEO to over N12 per share although the bank’s share price has declined from its 2018 high owing to a general wave of pessimism plaguing the stock market and weighing on banking stocks.
UBA, leading pan–african franchise, is currently serving about 18 million customers, through its 1,000 branches and customer touchpoints, 2,550 ATMS, 16,216 POS, robust online and mobile banking platforms and social media.
ln March 1, 2019, RBA launched its full banking operations in the rnited hingdom, an expansion move that further consolidates its unique positioning as the first and only Sub-saharan African financial institution with banking operations in both the rnited hingdom and the rnited States
In the domestic banking industry, UBA boasts of a tenth of the sector’s market share and through its retail banking is contributing to formalizing Nigeria’s unbanked.
UBA enjoys excellent rating from international credit rating organisations including Agusto & Co and Fitch Credit Rating.
Under Uzoka’s watch, UBA, Africa’s global bank, expanded across the continent and beyond, meeting client’s global banking needs through its presence in London, New York and Paris.
In 2019 alone, UBA launched operations in Mali and upgrade its operation in the United Kingdom.
On March 1, 2019, UBA launched its full banking operations in the United Kingdom, an expansion move that further consolidates its unique positioning as the first and only Sub-saharan African financial institution with banking operations in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
The formal launch which followed the authorization of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for UBA UK Limited to carry out full-scale wholesale banking across the United Kingdom reinforced its strong franchise as Africa’s Global Bank, facilitating trade and capital flows between Africa and the world.
On the digital front, Uzoka has also helped UBA remain unrivalled in the use of cutting edge technology to serve bank customers and clients.
The visionary leadership of the bank spearheaded by Uzoka has earned UBA digital bank of the Year consistently since the launch of Leo, an artificial intelligence chatbot, in January last year.
In 2008, UBA won Euromoney’s Best Digital Bank of the Year, as well as The West Africa Financial Technology Innovation Awards, 2019 for Best Digital Transformation initiative, application or Programme Award in 2019.
UBA also won Best Digital Bank in Nigeria and Best Automated Chatbot initiative, application or programme in The West Africa Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2019, West Africa (The Asian Banker).
The chatbot, Leo, has seen UBA become the leader in artificial intelligence and the technology which is available on different platforms including Whatsapp, Facebook was recently launched on IOS, the mobile operating system of Apple Inc.
On the back of the launch of Leo on Apple Business Chat, UBA customers can use the services of Leo, to open an account, buy airtime, check account balance, make account transfers and pay bills.
With Business Chat, customers can always reach a live person and are always in control of whether they share any contact information with a business, the bank said at the launch earlier in September.
Since its introduction in 2018, Leo has effectively been replicated in 18 African countries and the list keeps growing.
Asides consistent delivery of value to UBA shareholders and excellent customer service, the lender under Uzoka has bested other lenders to emerge the best place to work in the last two years.
According to Jobberman, a leading recruitment platform in Nigeria, UBA was not only the best financial institution to work in Nigeria, but it also ranked second overall best firm to work in 2018.
To ensure that it sources, attracts, recruits, develops and retains the best talent, from around the world UBA ensures it provides a non-threatening environment that encourages and rewards rolemodel performance.
The bank also helps its work-force maintain a healthy work-life balance, provides competitive compensation and benefits that rank amongst the top-tier competitors in each of the countries UBA operate in.
In addition to ensuring adequate avenues for career growth and exploration – whether functional or across country lines, UBA develops a culturally diverse pool of talented professionals, with the skills and mindset to deliver excellent results, in different markets and cultures, across the African continent and beyond.
In 2008, the big bank also set up the UBA Academy to ensure that its workforce is continually equipped to remain one of the best in the world.
Uzoka who has led UBA beyond Africa to globe holds a BSC. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Benin and an MBA from the University of Lagos.
In 2018 he, alongside 109 bankers and financial sector executives, was conferred with an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
While he was Group Deputy Managing Director and CEO, UBA Africa he was managing the Group’s country subsidiaries across 18 countries in Africa, as well as supervising three key strategic support areas in Digital Banking, Information Technology, and Personal Banking.
As Deputy Managing Director, he was the Executive in charge of the Group’s businesses in New York and London.
Kennedy is in his current role as Group Managing Director/ceo is responsible for leading the development and execution of UBA Group’s long-term strategy.
He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School (AMP) in Boston USA, the International Institute of Management Development (IMS) in Lausanne, Switzerland and the London Business School, United Kingdom.
