The United Bank for Africa (UBA) America’s operation continues to support African businesses with payments, settlements and global trade facilitation. Beyond serving as the payment hub for African lenders in the U.S. and abroad, UBA forms strategic partnerships to promote social enterprises and development. Its collaboration with Devex, a social enterprise platform for global development, during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington D.C. underscores the bank’s commitment to advancing African interests globally. Assistant Business Editor COLLINS NWEZE, who covered the event, reports
African businesses and financial institutions are leveraging on the UBA America’s services to carry out trade, settle transactions and facilitate payments at the global markets. The Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group, Oliver Alawuba, said the UBA America continues to play key payment and settlement roles for growth and development of the African continent. The bank’s partnership with Devex, presented opportunity for stakeholders from the global development sector to discuss transformative ideas shaping the future of aid and development.
Alawuba and the Chief Executive Officer, UBA America, Sola Yomi-Ajayi, spoke about the activities of UBA Group and UBA America, and how the bank is connecting Africa to the rest of the world and connecting Africans in settlements, payments, and capital flow across Africa, United States, United Arab Emirates, and other major countries of the world.
Highlights from the event, include Alawuba’s insights on how the bank differentiates itself from other financial institutions in terms of product offerings and customer experience. He said: “For UBA, we are currently present in 24 countries, and we are present in key financial centers of the world, including the United States of America. That alone shows that UBA is connecting Africa to the rest of the world and connecting Africans among themselves, in settlement, payments, and capital flow”.
“And to do this, the most critical philosophy for UBA is customer experience, excellent customer experience. So, what we do is to get things done from the perspective of the customer. The customer is the reason why we do our business, and for us, Africa is our home, and Africa remains the frontier market for us in UBA.”
Alawuba said he was excited that UBA remains the only bank originating from Africa that is present in the United States of America, regulated with a national banking licence, regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and that is a very prime position for us to support payments and to support settlements of businesses that originating out of Africa, or between Africa and the rest of the world. He said: “Today, UBA America is 40 years in America. UBA America is a settlement bank for so many banks out of Africa, and this is what has been very difficult for banks out of Africa to have settlement banks in our correspondent banks in America. UBA America is playing that role. UBA America is also banking many central banks because they understand the African business, and they are able to bank many central banks as even reserve banks of the central banks.”
Dealing with currency risks
Alawuba explained that because of the fact that UBA is present in many countries, the bank will have access to foreign exchange. “Things don’t get bad in all the countries at the same time; we have a very diversified portfolio. So, we are able to optimise the sources of efforts across all those countries. So, we stay on board, we stay moving because we have access to foreign exchanges across several countries where we are present, and we are optimising them more efficiently,” he said.
On UBA’s long-term strategy for expanding its presence in the USA and market share, he said the bank aspires to be top three in any geography where we have presence. And the way we want to increase the market share clearly will be more of organic growth. “We want to grow organically, and if we have the opportunity for inorganic growth, why not,” he said.
On facilitating trade between Africa, and the United States, Alawuba said: “The truth of the matter is that there are several investors from United States of America who are interested in Nigeria. Recently, we have seen some of the monetary policies that the central bank has put in place and how they have encouraged a lot of foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment into Africa, and a lot of those foreign portfolio investments go to UBA and a lot of some of the foreign direct investments are also coming to UBA.”
He said the bank is pushing strongly to support the financial services institutions in Africa to be able to serve as a correspondent bank to do transactions and settlements within the United States of America. Speaking further on the bank’s performance, he said: “Nigeria is a country that is over 200 million people with a GDP of over $400 billion. UBA keeps in mind that we are present in 24 countries, and over 60 per cent of our revenue comes outside of Nigeria. So, the result we release are the core revenue from core business of UBA and that revenue would continue to grow.
“We saw opportunities in Africa early enough, and we have gone into Africa and invested. Today, Africa is contributing around 70 per cent and those markets are really growth markets. So, it is not necessarily about Nigeria for UBA, is a lot more about Africa and the International Bank. Today, the event where we are witnessing is co-sponsored by UBA America, and they are doing quite well in America.”
On investment in UBA shares, he said: “Anyone who is buying UBA shares is buying businesses in 24 countries, and the person is buying a very diversified portfolio. So you are not concentrating on the issues in Nigeria, which can change in a few months. The high interest rate regime mentioned can change in the medium term in Nigeria. But UBA is in 24 countries. A piece of the share is a piece of businesses across the 24 countries.”
Medium to long-term customer expectations
He said: “We are in Africa for a long time. UBA is not just about banking, UBA is about changing the lives of Africans. As we do that, as we push ourselves to change the lives of Africans, we are clearly going to be generating revenue and we will keep paying good dividends and we will keep actually making sure that our customers are getting the best of services through the technology that we are deploying and through the various markets and products we will be producing.”
On her part, Yomi-Ajayi, said that as the Group Executive Director for UBA Group, overseeing international operations outside Africa, and also the CEO of UBA America, she has been pivotal in facilitating funds and initiatives supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and work across various project streams to extend our reach beyond major cities, especially in Nigeria, where the bank has deep market penetration.
On how UBA’s infrastructure supports development work across Africa, she said: “We leverage our extensive network, especially in Nigeria where we are present in every state, city, and local government. This allows development partners to reach more communities and maximise their impact on poverty reduction, education, food security, and other pressing issues. We believe in giving back, so our role involves partnering with institutions to address key social challenges and support those affected by displacement and other hardships.”
Yomi-Ajayi further explained her role fostering relationships with development organisations and corporate institutions globally, be it in the U.S., Europe, or elsewhere, to bring investment, trade, and capital flows into Africa. “We support these connections to enhance trade, foster economic empowerment, and elevate living standards,” she said. She said the impact of UBA America has been substantial. “UBA America is the second most profitable entity within the UBA Group, which spans 24 countries. Our successful model here is being replicated in the UK, France, and the UAE, supporting global business flows with Africa and contributing to economic growth across our countries of operation,” she said.
She said the operation of Free Trade Zone has allowed African businesses, including those in Nigeria, to engage in trade with fewer regulatory obstacles. “UBA supports this by facilitating and confirming Letters of Credit (LCs) for imports and exports. In the past, African banks often needed foreign bank confirmations to access LCs. Now, UBA America bridges this gap by confirming LCs for beneficiaries in regions like India, China, North America, and Europe. We bank over 85 per cent of Nigerian banks and provide trade lines and clearing services through our membership in the U.S. Federal Reserve System, the only African bank with this privilege,” she said.
Continuing, she emphasised that while profit is essential, UBA prioritises responsible growth that supports the financial ecosystems in the countries where we operate. “Our goal is to enable smaller institutions to grow, serve their clients, and build financial stability across the region. This approach allows us to contribute meaningfully to the development of financial systems, especially in emerging markets,” she stated.
Consolidating UBA franchise
The UBA Group is already a household name in banking across many countries, with its drive for expansion to new markets aligning with the determination to bring banking closer to the people not only in developing nations, but also in advanced economies. For instance, UBA Group’s foray into Dubai will enable it harness opportunities in the MEASA, which comprise 72 countries with an approximate population of three billion. The UBA Plc (DIFC Branch) operates under the category four licence and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), which is the financial regulatory agency of the special economic zone, the Dubai International Financial Centre.
The DIFC Branch was a strategic move by the bank to connect African businesses to Gulf investors and deepen the African economies. This reinforces its strong franchise as Africa’s Global Bank, facilitating trade and capital flows between Africa and the rest of the world. Chairman of UBA Group, Tony Elumelu said: “We are happy that Africa’s global bank is fulfilling its dreams of helping to finance trade, infrastructure for our people who are industrious and committed to Africa’s dream of prosperity.”
UBA Group had also in March 2019, launched the UK branch to promote trade and commerce between Europe and Africa. The launch followed the authorisation 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 UK.
The UBA UK, previously named UBA Capital (Europe), offers treasury services, cash management, correspondent banking, corporate lending and wholesale deposit products to professionals and eligible counter-parties. It also provides structured and trade finance, issuance, acceptance, confirmation and refinancing of Letters of Credit of different variations, among others. UBA Group further consolidates its strong franchise as Africa’s global bank, facilitating trade and capital flows between Africa and the world.
