The Lion King | 25
Growing the Seed
$400million bond, regular
treasury bills investments,
etc.) and financed differ-
ent strategic initiatives/
projects such as the Kribi
Power Development
Project and State Owned
companies such as
SONARA, the refinery for
which we are the number
one bank, providing
significant financing and
trade solutions.
• Public Sector and other
institutions: We provide
secured banking solutions
to key PS administrations
such as the State Sinking
Fund for which we hold
a significant portion of
project accounts. We
equally bank key insti-
tutions and Embassies
although we still have a
lot to do.
• Corporate customers: We
provide significant tailor
made financial services
to key multinationals
and large corporates
in various sectors of the
economy such as CFAO
Group, Olam, Stallion, Oil
Libya, Tradex, Eser, Rio
Tinto Alcan, MTN, HIS, etc.
• Universities: We recently
signed an exclusive
mandate with the Univer-
sity of Douala, to equip
their 50k students with
co-branded visa prepaid/
student cards. Several
other state Universities
are lined up for a similar
solution.
• SMEs: We provide various
solutions to key SMEs
along the value chain of
large corporate custom-
ers. However we note that
we still have a lot of room
to grow in this sector via
a better and competitive
alignment of our offer to
the target market.
• Individual Customers: We
provide one of the best
arrays of products and
services to this segment:
E-banking, cards,
consumer loans, etc. This
has resulted, for example,
in the high growth rate
of our consumer loans
across our branches.
• We have delivered solid
shareholder value through
consistent growth in our
profits, loans and deposits
with CAGRs of 53% for PBT,
15% for Loans and 29% for
Deposits.
• We have created close to
300 hundred jobs for young
Cameroonians with a perfect
mix 50/50 male/female and a
high retention rate.
• We have donated to hospi-
tals, orphanages and schools
through the Read Africa
initiative.
• We have won the Bank of The
Year Award for 2 years in a
row: 2011 and 2012.
• We have ranked second
in Customer Service in a
recently concluded survey by
KPMG.
We believe we have done a
good first 5 years but we also
believe we could do a lot better
for the next 5 years.
Notwithstanding the tough
socio-economic challenges
faced by businesses in emerg-
ing markets, UBA has done very
well in Cameroon and emerged
‘Bank of the Year’. What factors
have contributed to this impres-
sive performance and strategy
to sustain it?
The first thing that contributed to
the performance of Cameroon
is the leadership and resilience
of our pioneer CEO, Mr Emeke
Iweriebor. He succeeded in
setting the right foundations
through people, processes,
practices and above all a strong
resilience and hard working cul-
ture which we are still riding on.
Secondly, we had the chance
to be in a country where we can
find young, hungry, brilliant, hard
working and bilingual talents,
willing to learn and grow. Thirdly,
we have had the chance to be
in an environment that is politi-
cally stable and economically
vibrant, conducive to business
results, despite the gaps that ex-
ist. Finally we have significantly
leveraged on our group resourc-
es and leadership in the daily
pursuit of our business growth.
This has been displayed in the
area of products offering to our
customers, group guarantees
for lines, technical support and
various areas, processes and
procedures, learning and devel-
opment etc.
Our strategy to sustain our
performance is very simple,
we want to continue to do the
things we have done right but
we want to be closer to our cus-
tomers, and deepen our retail
banking play.
How much has the face of
Banking changed in Cameroon
since your appointment as MD/
CEO of UBA Cameroon and how
well have you adapted to these
changes?
The Cameroonian Economy has
been evolving and one very
notable change is the huge
number of large infrastructure
projects in the country. Dams,
roads, deep sea ports, bridges,
etc. This has led to an immedi-
ate need for banks to adjust
their strategies to support that
segment. The country has also
created 2 specialized banks:
One for SMEs and one for the
Agriculture Segment which rep-
resents 20% of the country’s GDP.
Again, banks are preparing to
adapt to that change. The regu-
latory environment has tight-
ened and banks are more and
more under scrutiny to comply
with prudential ratios and other
regulations such as exchange
control, customs declarations,
etc. Controls are more frequent
and more targeted. The fight for
talent is more aggressive than
before and retention of talented
staff and ability to attract good
hands has become a key chal-
lenge. All these changes call for
a lot of creativity in looking for
solutions, constant availability
and extreme resilience in pursuit
of business, high level of humil-
ity and very strong people’s
skills and finally the ability to get
things done which is often re-
ferred to as Execution. All these
must be done in strict compli-
ance with regulation and laws.
I cannot say that I have fully
adapted yet because I learn
everyday and the environment
