The Group Managing Director of UBA Plc, Oliver Alawuba, says that the bank has been deepening the economies of African countries by supporting their top priority sectors to ensure the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Alawuba disclosed during the bank’s global press conference held for its 75th anniversary in Lagos, on Monday May 20.
“We are committed to developing Africa. We are committed to supporting the key sectors that are pushing African economies wide and it is showing, even in our performances and in our businesses.
“Today, you will see that our customer base is moving up to 45 million customers across Africa and these are growing on a daily basis based on the businesses and we don’t just support these businesses, we support all the value chains that are tied to these businesses, so that SME business will continue to thrive.
Because we recognise, SME is the future of Africa, and we continue to provide support for SME businesses in Africa.”
Alawuba said that UBA’s strategy focuses on the countries where it operates, supporting the key sectors that drive their economies.
He said this includes the agricultural sector, telecommunications, power sector, and the construction of roads and ports.
“The infrastructure gap in Africa is a lot but that lies the opportunity that we have in Africa.
In some of the countries, we have done a lot in terms of road infrastructure support, building of ports, and improving the capacity of ports in taking goods.
“In some of the countries, we have even done as much as dealing with stadiums. In some of the countries, some of the stadiums where the matches of AFCON was played, were actually supported by UBA.
“In some, we have built their capacity for revenue generation in terms of technology, to ensure that the governments have enough funding to support the business of the day.
“Our support to African economies is across sectors, depending on what is the critical sector that is driving those economies.
So it will be easier for you, a manufacturer in Nigeria, to find a market in Ghana, or a Ghana manufacturer to find a market in Senegal. You need a bank that will put all this together and that is what UBA is doing.
“Today, we are supporting mining in several countries in Africa. We are supporting cotton. We are supporting cocoa. We are supporting cashews in several countries, depending on what the country is built on,” he said.
He said UBA’s strategic expansion into African countries is proving successful, and the bank’s management plans to keep investing in Africa.
“I would like to give you a positive news that all the subsidiaries in Africa are profit-making and all of them are contributing more than 50 percent of the gross income of UBA and this trend will continue.
“So the vision of going into these countries is paying off and we will continue to invest in Africa.
“Indeed, it is United Bank for Africa and we will continue to invest in Africa. We will continue to deepen our market.
Our market share in those countries is improving. In fact, if you go to some of the countries, UBA is the number one, number two, number three bank in these countries and some of them are appreciating the contributions of UBA to the economy, which have been very impactful.”
Alawuba said UBA’s primary focus is to move businesses between Africa and the rest of the world.
” Africans are doing less with each other and more with others hence, the need to encourage inter-Africa trade.
“So it will be easier for you, a manufacturer in Nigeria, to find a market in Ghana, or a Ghana manufacturer to find a market in Senegal. You need a bank that will put all this together and that is what UBA is doing,” he said.