Pan-African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) plc, weekend, carted away two highly coveted laurels at the BusinessDay’s Bank and other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI), winning the Bank of the Year and the International Bank of the Year.
The bank beat other strong contenders – Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, and First Bank – to clinch the two top categories in a well-attended ceremony comprising bank CEOs, captains of industries, and senior financial executives.
UBA won the ‘Bank of the Year’ in recognition of UBA’s consistent effort in outperforming its peers using a composite of financial metrics, strategic foresight, execution discipline, world-class governance, and global vision.
The bank also won the award for ‘International Bank of the Year’, a keenly contested category, that pitches Nigerian financial institutions that have expanded on the continent against their international peers operating across Africa.
UBA’s deputy managing director, Liadi Ayoku, who received the awards on behalf of the bank, expressed his delight in the recognition from BusinessDay.
He said, “These awards mark another milestone for UBA Group and are a testament of the diligent execution of the bank’s strategic initiatives on customer service. Being recognised as Nigeria’s best bank complements positive feedback from customers and is a recognition of our improving efficiencies, service quality, and innovation.
“I, therefore, dedicate it to our growing loyal corporate and retail customers, who are our essence. Given our heritage commitment to Africa’s development, we continue to impact lives through our service as well as funding to individuals, businesses, and government.”
Ayoku pointed out that the bank remains focused on its goal of democratizing banking in Africa, leveraging on new technologies, and emphasised its determination to change the narrative of financial services in Africa.
Publisher of BusinessDay Newspapers, organiser of the event, Frank Aigbogun, noted that UBA has excelled in the key areas of prioritising customers, which earned the bank the double honours.
While explaining the rationale behind UBA winning the two prestigious categories in its December issue, Aigbogun noted that the bank stood out in prioritising customers as has been evident in the significant rise in Customer Deposits, which leaped by 35.7% to N5.2 trillion up from N3.8 trillion at the end of the last financial year.
He noted that even though Africa’s economic landscape has been unpredictable in recent times which resulted in a recession in Nigeria and some of Africa’s best-performing economies, the bank still found its rhythm and excelled.
He said, “In these conditions only the most diversified and innovative of regional banks can prosper. And this is precisely why UBA has scooped the BAFI 2020, Best Bank of the year, and International Bank of the year, a testament to hard work, resilience. For one, the lender registered impressive top-and bottom-line growth over the review period.”
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