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The Lion King | 23
Please tell us about yourself.
I am the first child of a
typical large Igbo fam-
ily in Amaifeke, Imo State
of Nigeria. My parents are
deeply Roman Catholic and
that informed my upbring-
ing and way of life. We did
not have so much, so early
in life I learnt how to share
and live contented with the
little available. My father
prized education very highly
and sacrificed much for me
and my nine siblings to see
the four walls of a university.
I am married to a beautiful
woman and my soul mate
who has been a pillar of
support to me. She is also
the mother of my seven
lovely children; three boys
and four girls.
What peculiar challenges
have you faced since your
assumption of office as MD/
CEO of UBA Ghana and how
have you managed to over-
come them?
During my tenure, the oper-
ating environment has been
particularly challenging for
banks in Ghana especially
in 2012 – increased competi-
tion leading to thinning mar-
gins; the depreciating Cedi
and the measures Bank of
Ghana has been adopting
to stem the depreciation
which, among other things,
has significantly reduced
income streams of banks
including UBA Ghana.
I guess I have managed to
overcome these challenges
as a result of my open-door
management policy as well
as my motivational and
authentic leadership style.
I discuss key issues with my
team and I endeavor to
get their buy-in and owner-
ship of the various strategic
initiatives we undertake.
In spite of the challenges,
within the two years I have
been MD/CEO, UBA Gha-
na’s achievements have
been many and varied:
• PBT has grown by over
200%, with 2012 PBT being
US$33 million;
• The first country subsidi-
ary to pay dividends
(2012);
• Contributed about
70% of UBA Africa’s
profitability;
• Among Top Seven Banks
in profitability in Ghana;
• Role Model in Group
Audit rating;
• Won 7 prizes at the last
Spotlight on
Oliver Alawuba
MD/CEO, UBA Ghana
that a lot needs to be done
by us Africans to sustain the
world’s interest in Africa. In
his words “Little wonder, I’m
in UBA and interestingly in
Ghana (the land of Nkru-
mah) to contribute to the
development of Africa”.
UBA Ghana is one of the
star performers within the
UBA Group and Oliver sits
atop the helm of affairs. In
this interview, he spoke on
how to move Ghana to the
next level of higher per-
formance as well as other
sundry issues.
O
liver Alawuba, MD/CEO UBA
Ghana is a man that loves sim-
plicity, openness and forthright-
ness. He is a people person and is always
eager to serve and be useful to others.
His passion to serve is the background to
his banking career as banking to him is
another word for service. Oliver is inspired
by Africa and being African. He believes