Apart from Nigeria, UBA is firmly grounded in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Cameroon and Liberia whilst its presence in key global financial centers like New York and London, provides it with a platform to financial solutions to African business globally.
The initial investment in BIB, which has received all approvals by the apex regulatory financial institutions in Burkina Faso, is consistent with the UBA Group’s vision that is driven by the need to establish a strong pan-African presence. “We are delighted with the opportunity to extend our operations to Burkina Faso. BIB is the leading bank in the country and provides a solid platform for the deployment of innovative financial services and products to the people” said Rasheed Olaoluwa, CEO UBA Africa.
BIB was founded in 1974 as BIAO, following restructuring of BIV (Banque International de Voltas) which was changed in 1991 to Meridien BIAO and later operated under strategic partnership with BELGOLAISE. The bank has a very strong legacy as the first bank to commence commercial operations in Burkina Faso and share similar characteristics with UBA. Apart from having the largest ATM network in the country it equally has an extensive branch network with affiliates in the brokerage and leasing businesses. Its array of innovative products include Africard, the first prepaid visa card in Burkina Faso that was launched last year.

The reconstituted BIB Board of Directors has announced the appointment of one of the foremost bankers in the region, Mr. Alphonse Kadjo as the new MD/CEO. Educated at Ecole Superieure de Commerce of Abidjan and Brighton Business School in England, Kadjo with over 19 years experience has worked in several geographies and several institutions including Citigroup.

UBA’s brand positioning as Africa’s global bank is an effective touchstone that facilitates market acceptance even before consumers have the opportunity to experience its products. Expectedly this will be brought to bear in Burkina Faso as has been the case in other geographies in Africa where UBA quickly has become one of the key providers of financial services.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc is one of the leading financial services group in Africa providing a full range of solutions and financial services to over six million customers spanning all market segments. Customers of the bank are able to enjoy walk-in services, through the bank’s expansive retail distribution network of over 700 business offices, as well as remote services through electronic channels.

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Elumelu was honored alongside other notable Nigerian including the Chairman of The National Communications Commission, Mr. Ernest Ndukwe and former Nigerian High Commissioner to The United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, at the Expo Center, Eko Hotel, Lagos.

Professor Pat Utomi, Chairman of Vivante, said Elumelu was chosen in recognition of his immense contribution to economic development as he epitomizes the face of a the new Nigerian. According to him, “the likes of Tony Elumelu are champions of nation building. It is our duty to recognize and celebrate”.

Deputy Director of Marketing and Corporate Relations, UBA Plc, Mr. Martins Anyanwu received the award on behalf of Mr. Elumelu describing the UBA helmsman as not only nationalist but afro-centric in outlook. Under the leadership of Mr. Elumelu he said UBA has consolidated its leadership status in the Nigerian Banking Industry and is sure footed in its regional expansion drive. With presence in 11 African countries, UBA plans to extend to another eight before the end of the next financial year he said.
Tony Elumelu has been gaining increasing recognition as one of the leading and widely influential corporate leaders in Africa since he conceived and managed the merger of legacy Standard Trust Bank Plc and UBA Plc in 2005, a union that has grown to the largest financial services group in West, Central and East Africa. He has received many awards and honors some of which include African Business Leader of the Year 2006 by the Africa Investor magazine.

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Receiving the award on behalf of Mr Elumelu, the CEO of UBA Capital, Mr Nandan Mer dedicated the award “to the over 20,000 employees of UBA around the world from China to Nigeria, to the United States of America, for serving our customers better everyday with innovative products and services and for powering the vision to build a model global African financial institution”.

Mr Elumelu has been gaining increasing recognition as one of Africa’s leading and widely influential corporate leaders since he conceived and managed the merger of Standard Trust Bank Plc and UBA Plc in 2005.

Source: allAfrica.com

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UBA had already acquired five (5) other failed banks; City Express Bank, Gulf Bank, Trade Bank, Afex bank and Metropolitan bank. All the six banks have now joined Africa’s global bank as a member of the UBA family of over 700 business offices, over 1000 ATMs and a vast range of innovative financial solutions.

“This acquisition inches us closer towards the actualization of our vision of leading the financial services sector across the continent,” said Victor Osadolor, Executive Director /Group Financial Officer, UBA Plc.

In line with the Purchase and Assumption scheme, UBA has acquired the physical assets, including all the 17 branches of Liberty Bank, and also assumed the private sector deposit liabilities of the bank.

A statement from the bank said that though the acquisition of banks under the P&A is a commercial decision, it also serves as the bank’s contribution towards bringing relief to the depositors of the banks in liquidation after a long and anxious wait.

Accordingly, from 23rd June 2008, UBA will commence the verification and assumption of all the private sector depositors as at the date of Liberty Bank’s closure. Creditors (including trade and contingent liabilities, etc) and debtors of the bank shall continue to liaise with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for the settlement of their claims and repayment of their debts.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc is West Africa’s largest financial services group with assets in excess of US$14 billion. Assenting to its brand positioning as Africa’s global bank, UBA recently restructured its operations to be optimally positioned to actualise its global expansion strategy. With a rapidly expanding presence in Africa, the bank can be found in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, as well as in global money centres - London and New York.

UBA is increasingly recognized as a respected player in the global financial space. This is evidenced in the types of alliances, partnerships and transactions that the bank has been able to secure. Recently, the bank entered into an exclusive partnership with Arsenal FC for the development of co-branded financial services as well as football-related CSR initiatives. Also recently, UBA was appointed by International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the sole Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) clearing bank; and in May 2008, the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM), the world’s largest Global Custodian with over 20 Trillion USD in Custodial Assets, appointed UBA Global Investor Services (UBA GIS) as a Sub-Custodian in Nigeria for its Depositary Receipts Programmes. These, among others, underscore the confidence that UBA enjoys from global institutions as a respected African player within the global financial arena.

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This partnership with Arsenal supports UBA’s commitment to developing grassroots football in Africa and the bank’s strategy to spearhead the use of electronic banking products in the continent. “African youths yearn for inspiration. They need to be inspired and given opportunities to nurture their talents and achieve their dreams of becoming successful football stars. This strategic alliance and other UBA football related initiatives will go a long way towards achieving this,” said Angela Nwabuoku, Executive Director, Products and Segment Banking, UBA.

Arsenal has successfully developed a number of similar commercial and technical partnerships across the world but this represents the Club’s first significant financial services partnership in the Africa continent. ”This partnership with UBA represents an exciting opportunity for us. We are aware that Arsenal has an exceptionally strong following in Africa and we look forward to working with the bank in the development of financial services and football at grassroots level. The partnership will enable us to develop a closer affiliation with our supporters and give many fans the opportunity to visit Emirates Stadium, receive Arsenal merchandise and win shirts signed by our first team squad. UBA and Arsenal are also committed to renovating pitches across West Africa. Initially twelve pitches in Nigeria will be laid with artificial surfaces providing a durable and lasting facility for local players and we’ll also provide local support with visits to the region by our community coaches” said Adrian Ford, Commercial Director at Arsenal.

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The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a joint press Release today announcing a US$15 million civil penalty against the New York Branch (NYB) of UBA for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

As a matter of record, the infractions about which the OCC and FinCEN are concerned stem from anti-money laundering violations (AML) that predate the existing management and Board of UBA.  The existing UBA management self-reported their suspicions in 2005 and committed to resolving them in cooperation with the US authorities.

In January 2007, the OCC issued a Consent Order detailing what internal controls needed to be implemented by the UBA NYB to ensure compliance with the BSA.  During an examination conducted in November 2007, the OCC determined that the measures taken by the NYB to comply were not yet sufficient.  This examination culminated in a revised Consent Order issued in February 2008.  As part of the February 2008 Consent Order, a penalty of US$15 million has been imposed.

UBA is fully committed to improving risk management practices across the Group and in particular meeting our obligations under the BSA.  In close consultation with PwC, we have implemented a BSA/AML program that we continue to strengthen and assess in line with market and regulatory developments.   The OCC is due to examine the NYB’s compliance again in October 2008 and we are confident that we will have conclusively met all of their requirements at this time.

UBA would like to assure all stakeholders that we do not anticipate any material impact on our financial performance and profit forecasts for 2008 due to the revised Consent Order.

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The ceremony witnessed by UK and African business leaders, representatives of leading investment banking firms, clients in Europe and key players in the London and African financial markets, took place at the historic venue of the Duke of Wellington Arch, Hyde park, London.

The birth of UBA Capital was the result of the substantial equity investment by UBA in Afrinvest Ltd, a privately owned investment banking firm in London specializing in African securities.

This transaction resulted in a name change to UBA Capital (Europe) Ltd, providing UBA (and its subsidiary UBA Global Markets, one of the most innovative local investment banks and leading debt capital market originators and distributors) with a strategic presence in London from which it will be able to distribute primary and secondary securities of African issuers into Europe.

In addition, London will also act as an important addition to UBA’s Pan African asset management business, providing international investors with access to investment opportunities across the African continent.

As Africa’s global bank, UBA has been expanding from Nigeria where it has attained dominant status, to other parts of West, East and Central Africa . The London affiliate will further extend the Bank’s presence outside Africa in addition to its operations in New York and the Cayman Islands . Leveraging the group’s footprints in Africa, UBA Capital ( Europe ) has extended its range of products and enhanced the liquidity of its existing trade capabilities.

Based on competencies built over the years as a London-based independent investment banking firm, UBA Capital is continuing the tradition, providing specialized research and investment advice for London-based institutions interested in the African markets as well as executing services for international institutional clients seeking to deal in African securities.

In line with UBA’s aspiration is to be Africa ’s global bank providing comprehensive financial services, the mission for UBA Capital is to become the investment bank of choice for African issuers and international institutional investors. “We are most delighted at the launch of UBA Capital.” It marks a significant milestone for us as we leverage this platform for all transactions involving Africa and Africa-related businesses” said Mr. Tony Elumelu, the Group Managing Director/ CEO , UBA Plc.

UBA Plc is the largest banking group in West Africa with a balance sheet of approximately US$15bn and more than 6 million customers across the region. It is a full service financial services institution, offering retail banking, corporate and investment banking, private equity, asset management, stockbroking and custodian services.

UBA has an expanding footprint across the African continent, and its local investment banking subsidiary, UBA Global Markets, has rapidly gained a reputation as an innovative originator and leading distributor of securities, having transacted over US$8bn in local securities in the past 18 months.

UBA is rated as follows: Fitch A+, GCR AA+ long term and Agusto & Co AA+.

The Group is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and also has an unlisted GDR programme currently administered by the Bank of New York.

Managed by a dynamic team of change-drivers led by its Group Managing Director/ CEO, Mr. Tony Elumelu, the bank has won many awards over the years, most recently “Africa’s Emerging Global Bank” as adjudged by a panel organised by the acclaimed African Banker Magazine.

Source: AllAfrica.com

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The result, an industry first in Nigeria, mirrors the vision of the bank to be the dominant financial services groups in Africa with a global footprint.

With all key performance indicators soaring in three digits, compared to the previous year’s figures, UBA has shown what proper risk assets management and creative deployment of retail resources could do to a bank’s bottomline.

According to the abridged annual report and accounts of the bank released yesterday, the balance sheet size soared by 217 percent, from N332.6 billion in 2005 to N1.05 trillion in 2006.

This leap significantly impacted all other performance indicators which recorded exponential growths. Gross earnings rose by 247 percent, from N26.1 billion in 2005 to N90.47 billion in 2006. The growth in deposit liabilities from N205 billion in 2005 to N776.13 billion in 2006 has more than justified the bank’s retail strategy that has seen the bank run more than 460 business offices throughout the federation.

This retail strategy also reasonably affected profits which grew by 115 percent, from N6.52 billion in 2005 to N13. 98 billion in 2006 reflecting good use of the bank’s risk assets. It was also a promise fulfilled as it would be recalled that the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu had, in his address to stakeholders and the community of stockbrokers on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, in July 2006, promised that the bank was not going to return a profit after tax of less than N12 billion.

After the merger between UBA and the former Standard Trust Bank Plc, Mr. Elumelu had also promised to grow the bank into a neighbourhood bank through the pursuit of a robust retail banking strategy that will take banking to every category of Nigerians, especially the unbanked communities of people spread across Nigeria. To this end, the bank plans to open over 200 new business offices in different parts of the country within the next one year to bring the total branch network to over 750.

Over the past one year, UBA has let its brand touch the lives of several people. For the first time in the history of banking in Nigeria, a promotion was organized for depositors in which they were given the opportunity to win millions of naira every week. Called the UBA wise Millionaires Promo, people were encouraged to leave a minimum balance of N50, 000 in their savings account and they have the chance of winning the money. A lot of people also thought this was not going to work, but then they were wrong again. During the first promotion seven Nigerians who had savings accounts with the bank became millionaires. The success recorded in the initial promo has spawned another one called The Lion King Millionaires Promo. Other companies are also not keeping quiet, doing their best to start what looks like UBA’s model but with a different name.

Till date, UBA remains the only bank in the country that has a high quality in-house news journal for internal communication. Called The Lion King, the colourful publication reflects the territorial ambition of the bank and with its domineering red, the ambition of the bank to rule the nation’s financial services landscape and move strongly into the continent.

Although the bank has taken some steps into the continent (it has a subsidiary in Ghana with five branches) and even in the United States, it seem determined to souse Nigeria with its presence by opening even more branches and delivering other values for the customers. The bank currently has a branch network of about 450, the largest in the country and has also made known its determination to deploy as many as 3000 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the length ands breadth of the country in an effort to make banking services available 24 hours of the day, thereby positioning the bank as “The wisest choice within reach.”

It was against this background that UBA, unrelenting in its effort to make a difference in the Nigerian banking environment as well as impact on more people than any other institution in its environment, initiated a number of strategic alliances with key players at various points of contact in the market. Key in the basket of alliances is the one UBA entered with UBS AG of Switzerland, easily the world’s leader in investment banking services with a balance sheet size in excess of $2 trillion. In the alliance, UBA and UBS will float and jointly manage a Private Label Fund (PLF). Already, the CBN has included UBA/UBS AG in the exclusive list of managers of a sizeable portion of the nation’s burgeoning external reserves.

The next alliance which portrays the bank as one with an eagle eye for opportunities is that which it entered with MTN, Nigeria’s leading mobile communication company. The two companies between them developed and deployed a product called X-Change to the market.

X-Change is a card-based, ATM-compliant product that integrates the features of the normal ATM card with that of a Virtual Top-Up vending machine, meaning one can use it to withdraw money as well as recharge his phone on a 24-hour basis.

UBA also has a comprehensive ticketing partnership with Virgin Nigeria, Nigeria’s flag carrier and fastest growing airline, and North American Airlines (NAA). In these alliances, Virgin Nigeria and NAA implants are allowed in UBA branches for ticketing purposes while UBA ATMs are deployed in the two airlines’ offices.

The latest of the alliances was the one recently signed with the United States Mission in Nigeria for the sole collection of visa fees from Nigerians intending to travel to US including rendering other related retail banking services, among others. The bank hopes to leverage on the alliance to reach the over 100, 000 intending travelers to the US per annum as well as enhance the brand profile of the bank, especially in the US where UBA remains the only African bank licensed to provide banking services.

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At the occasion to present the winner prize of N2.5m donate by UBA Plc to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, The Minister of Federal Capital Territory is the new Chairman of the bank, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba who in his speech rationalized the involvement of the bank to the project as a continuation of the Bank’s mission to grow Africa business, Africa entrepreneurship and quest for social economic upliftment through good leadership.

“I call on Nigerians to join Silverbird Group in thanking UBA Group. The bank has demonstrated, continuously an unequal commitment to the success of Silverbird Man of the Year, typical of their commitment to nation building” remarked Mr. Ben Bruce Murray. Mr. Ben Bruce in the midst of glamour and showmanship thanked UBA Plc. He solicited for continuous financial support of the bank to the project.

Mallam El Rufai while accepting the cheque from UBA’s Chairman, Mr. Alabraba, and ably supported by Mrs. Dora Akunyili, NAFDAC Chairman and 2005 winners, pledged the donation to Movement for Better Future, a non- governmental organisation based in Kaduna.

Mallam Saliu Lukmon, the President of the Movement in an interview with the writer shortly after the ceremony, noted that the donation will be used to fix Jamal Girls College, Zaria. Jamal Girls College is the first all female post primary institution, North of Niger. Seen better years, Jamal infrastructure had been depleted largely as a result of neglect and overused. A common denominator of public schools in the country. “We are grateful to El-Rufai, the donor, but most importantly Silverbird Group who facilitated all these and United Bank for Africa Plc who supported the project. This donation has taken us beyond advocacy. What we will do or fail to do with this money will determine the people’s perception of our organisation” Mallam Lukmon concluded.

Jamal Girls College according to the Group will need N10m to fix the facility of the premier college.

The bank’s donation to the Award winners comes in the heel of recent activities of its social responsibility arm- The UBA Foundation. The Foundation recently donated N5m to University of Jos towards infastrure upliftment of the university.

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