The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UBA

  • Uba meets stakeholders in seven council areas

    …seeks support for senatorial ambition

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate for Anambra South Senatorial Zone,  Chief Chris Uba, has met with all the stakeholders in the zone to seek their support for his senatorial ambition.

    The local government areas are, Ekwusigo, Ihiala, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Aguata, Orumba North and Orumba south.

    The town hall meetings attracted all the political juggernauts in the council areas, which were held in their different party offices in their areas.

    He told them that nobody in Anambra State had contested any elective position in the state without his support, including the governors, senators , House of representatives and state Assembly since 1999.

    Uba said he came to contest the seat in anger because those who had represented his people had failed in their duties by abandoning them, saying ‘enough is enough ‘.

    “Please, stop selling your votes and conscience in next month’s elections, the time to rescue my people in Anambra South Senatorial Zone is now because you told me to come out “He told them that if elected as their senator, he would work with any president without fighting him and by that way, he would attract democracy dividends to his people.

    Uba added that after his tenure as senator, no person would have the courage to come out to contest again because of his record at the Senate.

    “Fear not, I have the resources for this election, I have the brain, I have the connection and I have the capacity to become your Senator”

    “I’m ready for this fight and ready to give my constituents what they had lacked in many years and I’m ready to sign an agreement with all the local government areas to show my seriousness in this election.”

    Some of the stakeholders who spoke with The Nation, like former lawmakers; Hon Tim Egboka, Hon Uche Ogbonna described Chief Chris Uba as the kind of person the area needed now at the National Assembly.

    Others who attended the town hall meetings were member representing Ekwusigo, Nnewi North and South Federal Constituency, Hon Chris Azubogu, his colleague from Aguata Federal Constituency, Hon Eucharia Azodo and Hon Onyebuchi Offor, representing Ekwusigo Constituency in the State House of Assembly, among others.

  • Judges praise UBA Foundation essay entries

    • 14-year old wins star prize

    For the first time in years, the panel of judges praised the quality of entries submitted for the 2018 edition of the UBA Foundation national essay competition.

    Unlike past two editions that they complained about the high level of plagiarism and some writers’ inability to perform creditably in the second stage retake, the chief Judge, Prof Ini Uko, said they were impressed this time around.

    Speaking at the awards programme for the competition held at the UBA House, Marina, Lagos on Monday, the Professor of English at the University of Uyo said most students wrote intelligently.

    “Essay writing competitions helps to improve and widen the thinking faculties of most youths as it exposes them to a lot of reading. The quality of the essays was impressive as this year’s essay writing was mostly devoid of plagiarism, employment letters and the likes that we yearly receive. Youths should cultivate the act of writing more as through their writings they can touch the lives of many,” she said.

    Fourteen year-old Divine Odjegba of International High School, Delta State won the grand prize of N2 million of the essay competition titled: “What is the biggest environmental issue that your generation will face and how can it be avoided?”

    She was followed by Halimat Emesomi Ozemoka of University Preparatory Secondary School, Edo State in second place and Christopher Adiankpo Ini- Iso of Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo, Akwa Ibom who came third. Halimat was rewarded with N1.5 million; while Christopher got N1 million.

    All 12 finalists were rewarded with laptops.

    The Group Managing Director, GMD/ CEO UBA Foundation, Mr Kennedy Uzoka said the number of entries this year was six times higher than in the past.

    “This year’s participation is unprecedented as the applicants were six times the number of applicants of the previous years. This essay competition was initiated to seek out students that are brilliant across the 36 states of Nigeria and sponsor them to give them the opportunity to realize their dreams.

    “UBA feels there is a huge void in the community and we are helping to fill it by focusing on four key areas of the nation: education, environment, empowerment and special projects that help to impact positively on the society like refurbishments of schools, equipping hospitals and others,” he said.

    Uzoka said the prize money doubled this year to absorb the increased cost of living.

    “We have indeed noted the increase in the cost of living and have therefore increased the prize money by 100 per cent in all the categories. Seeing past winners tell their stories on the impact the grants have made on their education and particularly how the financial burden was lifted off their parents, gives us joy that our foundation is unique and deeply touching lives,” he said.

    Giving her remarks, MD/CEO of UBA Foundation Bola Atta, praised the winners for their exceptional brilliance and counseled those who did not win to improve their writing skills.

    “Every student who sent in an entry is a winner. To be confident about your writing skills and ambitious enough to enter a competition to further enhance your educational path is laudable.  For those that did not win, I would say do not be discouraged. Take it as a challenge to perfect your writing skills and enter for the competition again in 2019,” she said.

    Winning was a pleasant surprise for Divine who wants to become a gynaecologist.

    She thanked everyone that helped her achieve success, including the UBA Foundation for organizing the competition.

    “I thank God for his immense grace on me, my parents, especially my mother for her encouragement and advice and also my teacher as I am indebted to him for his time, dedication and support and also thank UBA for giving me the opportunity to put down what I believe will not only make me a winner but also change my generation, help Nigeria and help the world at large.

    “In my essay I made us to realise that in Nigeria with agriculture we can move up from being a developing country to a developed country if we can reduce our focus on oil and refocus our energy on other interesting sectors of our nation,” she said.

  • UBA introduces digital ID cards at Danfodiyo varsity

    Students of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) will now have microchip-installed Identity (ID) Cards to enable them use the cards for the dual purpose of personal identification and electronic wallet.

    Thanks to the digital ID card initiative introduced by the United Bank for Africa (UBA), which seeks to co-brand the ID cards the school issued to students to serve as both a prepaid VISA card and also an ID card.

    During the meeting held at the Vice-Chancellor’s complex, the bank officials gave a presentation before the management team, Students’ Union Government (SUG) representatives, members of students’ associations, and campus journalists on how the digital ID card would work.

    The Digital Head of UBA in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara area branch, Mr Austin Obibi, said: ”UBA provides a prepaid payment card which is set up without the need for you to have a bank account with the bank. A prepaid card is an electronic wallet in which you put funds into and spend.

    “This is both the UBA and Usmanu Dan Fodio University coming together to brand a product that has an international standard. The card has a unique ‘chip and pin’ technology, which secure the transaction done on it. This reduces the potential for fraudulent use.

    “In cases of card misplacement, the card can be blocked or better still, the cash in the card can be transferred from the misplaced card to another. This can be done via the designated website, which offers the direct control of the card; it has records of all card transactions and this reduces the cost of cash management.

    “The co-branded ID card will have an identification number at the bottom right of the card. This serves as an account number to enable the transfer of funds into the card. The cobranded ID card has a transaction limit of N300,000 and N50,000 depending on the transaction of users, which can either be low or high.”

    Obibi said the card would be valid for three years, adding that students whose course of study exceeds the stipulated period would have their cards renewed.

    He also noted that the card would serve as multiple identification purposes where staff members and students would no longer have to carry multiple cards, such as library ID cards, clinic ID cards, club ID cards, and hostel ID cards.

    The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) for Academics, Prof A. G. Yahya, said the management was willing to adopt the co-branded ID card initiative, but noted that the school would negotiate with the bank in order to reach an agreement that would be in favour of students

    The bank’s Regional Head, Mrs Aisha Na’Allah, said successes were recorded in the previous partnerships the bank had with other tertiary institutions, noting that the adoption of the co-branded ID card would elevate the university in the digital world.

    She said: “We are here to present an opportunity for the university to be part of the digital drive that is happening across the world. It is common knowledge that the digital arena is taking the space across the world, and anybody who would belong to this world in this era must be digitally savvy.

    “For UBA, lifting people through education is a top priority. We regard UDUS as a highly intellectual institution, which is why we are bringing our product to raise the stake for education and simply complicated activities for students.”

    The Dean, Student Affairs, Prof Aminu Mode, appreciated the bank for its contributions to its development, pointing out that the introduction of the co-branded ID card would digitise the university operation.

  • UBA honours four retired directors

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc at the weekend honoured four retiring directors while restating its commitment to ensuring strong corporate governance across the group.

    The four directors who had collectively served the bank for over 40 years, were celebrated for their remarkable contributions to the group over the years.

    The retired non-executive directors –  Mrs Rose Okwechime, Ambassador Kunle Olumide, Alhaji Jaafaru Paki and Mr. Yahaya Zekeri – were treated to a cocktail and dinner party attended by top players in the private and public sectors at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja at the weekend.

    Speaking at the event, the Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, commended the contributions of the retiring directors to the Bank’s corporate governance policies and the actualisation of  its goals and targets.

    “The Bank’s institutionalised corporate governance has attracted more investment, increased its income base, ensuring that UBA  impacts the economic and infrastructural developments in Africa. We are grateful for the contributions of the retired directors and their colleagues on the board,” Elumelu said.

    “Without the support given by the retiring directors, we may not be where we are today. Their investment and advisory services with the legacy Standard Trust Bank which later grew into today’s UBA, cannot be understated.” Elumelu said.

    Also speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director, Kennedy Uzoka, said: “Tonight, we are happy but not too happy. We are happy because employees of this financial empire have come together to celebrate some great people who have contributed to building the franchise that we have today.

  • UBA sustains resilience as gross earnings hit N375b

    •Group profit rises to N79 billion

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc sustained steady growths in all key performance indices in the third quarter with gross earnings rising by 12.3 per cent to N374.8 billion within the period.

    Key extracts of the interim report and accounts of UBA for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2018 released yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that gross earnings rose from N333.9 billion in third quarter 2017 to N374.8 billion in third quarter 2018. Net operating income improved by 1.7 per cent to N227.7 billion in 2018 compared with N224 billion in corresponding period of 2017.

    Amidst inflationary pressures and uncertainties undermining the business environment in Nigeria and a few other countries in Africa, UBA’s operating expenses only increased by 2.3 per cent to N149.1 billion compared with N145 billion recorded in the same period of last year.  Profit before tax of rose from N78.33 billion to N79.11 billion while profit after tax increased from N60.9 billion to N61.7 billion. With these, the bank’s annualized pre and post tax returns on average equity stood at 16 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

    Further analysis showed that the bank maintained a very strong balance sheet, with total assets rising by 10.8 per cent to N4.51 trillion in September 2018 as against N4.07 trillion recorded as at December 2017. Customer deposits grew by 16.2 per cent to N3.18trillion in September 2018 compared with N2.73 trillion posted as at December 2017. Shareholders’ fund stood at N509.3 billion.

    Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, said the group achieved a number of strategic imperatives during the quarter and committed more investments in the future of the business to further build a solid foundation for sustainable and superior return to shareholders.

    He noted that the bank’s franchise is increasingly being renowned for financial solution with the consistent growth in its businesses across the continent.

    He assured that notwithstanding the macro-risk arising from upcoming elections in Nigeria, the group’s single largest market, the group is confident of finishing the year strong.

    He pointed out that the bank’s virtual banking chatbot, Leo, which debuted on Facebook earlier in the year, was successfully launched on WhatsApp during the quarter.

    “This new channel offering, which enables our customers to fulfill their banking transactions through simple chat commands, is another premier initiative in our suite. The early pay-offs are quite compelling – recent customer acquisitions and broader transaction volume growth are exciting leading indicators that reinforce our confidence in these novel channels,” Uzoka said.

    Group Chief Financial Officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh noted that despite the relative volatility in the third quarter of 2018, especially in the face of United States interest rate hikes and concerns over global trade war, which has disrupted the interest and exchange rate environment in many African countries, the bank remains on track to deliver its earnings target for the year.

    “We remain committed to our five-year plan of working down cost-to-income (CIR) to 50 per cent, which we consider to be a normalised medium-term CIR.  Overall, we closed the third quarter with a post-tax RoAE of 16 per cent and the Group remains well capitalized and liquid, as reflected in the Group’s capital adequacy of 21 per cent and bank’s liquidity ratio of 53 per cent,” Nwaghodoh said.

    UBA is one of Africa’s leading banks with operations in 20 African countries. It also has presence in the global financial centres; London, New York and Paris.  UBA provides banking services to more than 15 million customers globally, through diverse channels.

     

  • UBA Foundation ups essay prize by N2.25m

    The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation has doubled the prize money for its annual essay competition to N4,500,000 million for the top three winners.

    Managing Director, UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, revealed the increment while announcing the call for entries for the 2018 edition of the competition at the bank’s headquarters in Marina, Lagos, on Monday.

    Ms Atta said the overall best winner would get N2million scholarship grant – up from the previous N1million which would be paid yearly until the student graduates from any university in Africa.

    The second placed would get N1,500,000 as against N750,000, while the third position would get N1 million – twice the N500,000 previous prize money.

    Senior Secondary School pupils across the country have until November 2, 2018 to submit their entries for the essay competition, titled: “What is the biggest environmental issue that your generation will face and how can it be avoided?”

    Ms Atta said the Foundation, which is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc set up the competition to give Nigerian youths opportunity to get educated regardless of their backgrounds, increase their knowledge through reading and research, and improve their writing skills.

    “The national essay competition started not only to allow students fund their education but help them enhance their reading and writing skills. The essay competition is a continuation of the Read Africa initiative. If you read well, you will write well,” she said.

    Ms Atta said witers of the best 12 entries would be invited to write a second essay under live examination conditions to certify their work.

    She challenged pupils of Holy Child School, Obalende, and Victoria Island Secondary School who were present at the event to enter the competition and put in essays that could be among the winning entries.

  • Uba: Bianca, Uba will bow to me

    Winner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Anambra South Senatorial Primary, Chris Uba, has boasted that his brother, Senator Andy Uba and Bianca Ojukwu will bow to him.

    Uba, who won the primary with 931 votes, said he was tired of being a ‘godfather’ of Anambra politics without being at the top.

    He said neither Bianca nor his brother, Uba, could pose any threat to his ambition.

    The PDP candidate, who addressed reporters in Awka, said he would want his brother to throw in the towel before the election in 2019, adding that Ojukwu’s wife is a featherweight in politics.

    He said: “Why I want to run is because we have been sponsoring people into positions across Nigeria. I have been doing that and a lot of people have passed through my school. But they call us godfathers; we have made cases severally for the party to make some provisions in the party constitution to protect godfathers, but all to no avail.

    “Do you know if I sponsor someone to the House of Representatives, Senate and House of Assembly, with my own money and everything, I will sit in my house and when they call them for meetings at the Villa or anywhere else, they will address them as serving Senators, serving House of Reps members, serving this and that, they have never called any godfather, where are we?

    “The truth remains that we are the people closer to the grassroots, a lot of people depend on us, a lot of families depend on us and many families today are hungry. But after sponsoring those people, immediately they get to Abuja, you can’t get them on phone again, nobody will see them again, they buy all choice cars and the next thing they will blackmail you.

    “They will start fighting you, they will say they’ve known the President, they’ve known the party chairman and as a godfather, you are in trouble. So now we need an office to protect our position and the positions of our people, which is why I am running for Senate.”

    “My people are solidly behind me in this race and I bet you, it will be an easy sail as my people are ready with their voters’ cards to vote me in because they want me to protect their interest.

    “Ojukwu’s wife will not pose any threat to me, Bianca has been my family friend and she is my brother’s wife. She knows my position and when she sees me on the street, she will take a bow. My brother Andy on the other hand knows my position too; he has been there for eight years and must take a bow now.

    “I pray for my brother to go higher, governorship or Vice President, but not on this Senate, it is now my turn. I want him to throw in the towel because the battle is going to be very serious.”

  • UBA, FBN General, STI, others to sponsor confab

    United Bank for Africa  (UBA Plc), FBN General Insurance and Sovereign Trust Insurance are among sponsors of the inaugural Lagos State Petroleum Marketers Safety Conference slated for September 18 to 20.

    The event, being coordinated by an industry Safety consultant, Bendeb Sylmar Associates, in collaboration with Lagos State Safety Commission, is aimed at gathering industry experts, regulators and government to a roundtable to discuss how to enhance productivity in handling petroleum products

    The conference is expected to set the tone for an enhanced policy articulation and deliberation on safety as it concerns the petroleum sector and its entire value chain.

    Bendeb Sylmar Associates Chief Executive Officer, James Akin Ashokeji, said the conference would be a rallying point in the industry, adding that the deal with Lagos State could create an avenue for cross fertilisation of ideas, set agenda and define the space for petroleum industry in the state.

    He said: “Top speakers and international facilitators have indicated interest to participate, while key industry leaders and thought leaders in petroleum sector are billed to expand the discussions and chart a new narrative in the industry.

    “The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmaneul Ibe Kachikwu is the guest of honour;  Chairman House Committee on Petroleum Resources, Downstream, Hon. Akinlaja Joseph is the guest speaker. Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is the Chief Host.

  • UBA appoints four new board members

    The Board of Directors of the United Bank for Africa is pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to its board, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The new board members are Mrs. Erelu Angela Adebayo, Ms. Angela Aneke, Abdulqadir Jeli Bello and Isaac Olukayode Fasola.

    These appointments follow the retirement of Mrs. Rose Okwechime, Adekunle Olumide, Ja’afaru Paki and Yahaya Zekeri, with effect from August 30.

    “I am pleased to welcome Erelu Adebayo, Angela Aneke, Abdulqadir Bello and Kayode Fasola to the Group Board” said Tony O. Elumelu, the Group Chairman of the Bank.  “These men and women bring a wealth of experience in their fields and will be tremendous assets, as we deliver on our mission to become the leading Pan-African financial institution in all our countries of operation.”

    ‘I am particularly pleased that two of the newly appointed Non-Executive Directors are women, bringing the total number of women to four, a further demonstration of our commitment to ensuring equality for both men and women,’ added the Group Chairman.

    Elumelu thanked the retiring directors for their contribution, hard work and commitment to UBA, “I would like to express my appreciation to our retiring Directors for their leadership and dedication to UBA and for their contribution to an already impressive 2018. I wish them the very best in their future endeavours”.

    This announcement comes on the heels of the Bank’s strong H1 2018 performance with a PBT of $58.1billion. With the successful expansion of its retail operations, UBA now operates in 20 countries in Africa, following its recent acquisition of a licence in Mali and the United Kingdom. The bank also has offices in New York City and in Paris.

  • UBA declares N6.84b interim dividend

    •Lender grosses N258b in six months

    The board of directors of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc yesterday announced the payment of N6.84 billion to shareholders as interim dividend for the first half of this year as the pan-African commercial banking group grew top-line by 16 per cent to N258 billion within the six-month period.

    Audited report and accounts of UBA for the half year ended June 30, 2018 released yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed strong growth across key performance indicators with significant contribution from its African subsidiaries.

    A breakdown of the dividend recommendation indicates that shareholders will receive an interim dividend per share of 20 kobo, sustaining a trend of rewarding shareholders twice in a financial year.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts showed that gross earnings rose from N223 billion in first half 2017 to N258 billion in first half 2018. Operating income stood at N168.5 billion compared with N161.8 billion in the first half of 2017. Notwithstanding the inflation-induced cost pressure in the period, UBA finished the first half of the year with profit before tax of N58.1 billion.

    After taxes, net profit rose by 3.4 per cent to N43.8 billion in 2018 as against N42.3 billion recorded in comparable period of 2017. These implied pre-tax and post-tax return on average equity of 23 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

    Also, the bank’s total assets grew by 4.9 per cent to N4.27 trillion while customer deposits rose by 6.1 per cent to N2.90 trillion. This growth trajectory underlines UBA’s market share gain, as it increasingly wins customers through its re-engineered customer service and innovative digital offerings.  The group’s shareholders’ funds remained strong at N496.3 billion, even as implementation of IFRS 9 impacted the total equity of the bank and its peers.

    Analysts noted that the double-digit growth in top-line despite declining yield environment in two core markets, Nigeria and Ghana, underscored the capacity of the group to deliver strong performance through economic cycles, even in a challenging business environment.

    UBA’s foreign operations continue to grow in importance, contributing 40 per cent of the group’s profit, which according to analysts attests to the benefit of UBA’s pan-African strategy and reinforces the bank’s objective of achieving 50 percent earnings contribution from offshore subsidiaries.

    Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said the first half performance reflects the resilience of the group’s business model and strategies.

    “Despite declining yields in two core markets, Nigeria and Ghana, we delivered double digit growth in gross earnings. Our performance demonstrates the success of our digital banking initiatives and broader customer-first strategies,” Uzoka.

    He noted that the group is integrating banking to its customers’ lifestyle, simplifying processes for routine transactions and driving financial inclusion by making banking services accessible and affordable.

    “We are creating opportunities for wealth creation and economic progress, as we empower our customers through innovative platforms and solutions that support their personal and business growth. Our commitment to delivering excellent service is paying-off, as we increasingly win a bigger share of customers’ wallet across our chosen markets,” Uzoka said.

    He added that the group’s enhanced asset-liability management strategies improved asset yield and grew interest income by 21 per cent despite prevailing yield environment.

    According to him, the group re-engineered sales structure provided the impetus for renewed retail deposit growth.

    Group Chief Financial Officer, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Ugo Nwaghodoh said the group finished the first half of the year in a stronger position and optimistic on the future of its business.

    “Amidst economic recovery and uncertainties in Nigeria, our largest market, we grew net interest income and operating income by 9.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively. We doubled revenue from trade services and grew e-banking income by 24 per cent, a testament to our market share gain, which is driven by innovative offerings,” Nwaghodoh said.

    He added that the group sustained its asset quality, with cost of risk at 0.8 per cent while the loan book declined by 6.5 per cent due to prepayments from some customers in Nigeria and Ghana.

    “We grew the overall balance sheet by 5.0 per cent in the first half of the year. The group’s capital adequacy ratio of 23 per cent, bank’s liquidity ratio of 48 per cent and loan-to-deposit ratio of 57 per cent all reinforce our capacity to grow, with ample headroom for risk asset creation,” Nwaghodoh said.