12 | The Lion King
Ask the Executive
What gets you out of bed every day
and excites you to come to work?
The desire to build, and to win.
Describe your job in a nutshell.
Firstly, my mandate is to build and
drive retail business in UBA Africa. This
requires a focus on products – current
and savings deposits, loans, trade,
cards, remittances, leveraging on our
e-solutions, and through segments. I
also have a governance responsibility
on the Board of our country subsidiaries
to provide strategic direction, business
support and guide compliance with
statutory and regulatory enactments as
well as institutional policies.
How would you describe your expe-
riences so far since taking over this
position?
It has been exciting to drive, and even
compel awareness and interest that
retail banking is the most sustainable
and accretive part of our business. It is
an opportunity to build, and to convert
a largely placid and low-intensity busi-
ness, to a vibrant resource powerhouse
in UBA Africa. It is a long-term play that
requires diligence and fortitude. You
must build block by block, but you must
also juggle so many balls at the same
time.
Working with our SBU teams pan-UBA
Africa, the more we dig deep, the more
we realise the enormous potential that
Retail bears. Our duty is to move from
potential to results. This also entails
change in orientation as some of our
business teams have become accul-
turated to the glow of the large ticket
transaction and pipeline deals! But, I
understand, and can relate to that.
We have planned periodic product
initiatives and campaigns. Not only will
all these grow business, but they will
also strengthen the UBA brand in our
markets. On the whole, business can
only get better.
What has surprised you most about
doing business in Africa?
What I have seen is the enormity of the
human and natural resources in, and
the sheer diversity of the continent. As
Africans, this foists a duty on us to be
harbingers of change and develop-
ment. It is a responsibility that we can-
not delegate or outsource, nor should
we take lightly.
What would you say are the major op-
portunities and threats to doing business
in Africa?
The opportunities are abundant. Africa
has been in a growth phase for over
a decade. This will continue, as I do
not see any cataclysmic shifts that will
reverse this trend in the next 5-10 years.
There will be intermittent country-spe-
cific cases of economic difficulties, or
decline, but the trajectory will remain.
For example, in 2014, Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) is projected to grow at over
5%, at a time when the EU is hovering at
about 1%.
Take trade, for instance. Trade within
Africa, constitutes just about 10% of
Africa’s global trade. In other regions,
the level of intra-regional trade is much
higher. Within the EU, it is about 70%
and over 50% in North America and
Asia. This trade gap represents a major
opportunity to strengthen economic
co-operation and development in the
continent.
Our products –Afritrade and Africash
and our recent Partnership Agreement
with the African Trade Insurance in
Nairobi –ATI – are some of our responses
to these opportunities. Nonetheless, our
governments must rapidly create new,
and improve existing facilitative and
direct transport and logistics infrastruc-
ture, especially road and rail links across
our frontiers in a structured manner.
That way, there will be faster movement
of goods and persons across borders,
and people will be able to travel to
all parts of Africa by road, rail, air, and
sea. Though, there are already existing
plans, policy initiatives, and progress is
being made, our governments can do
lot more, and faster.
Population is an opportunity
With a large population, an expanding
middle class, estimated at about 35%
of the population, rising consumption,
the manufacture of goods and the
provision of services also represent an
opportunity for Africa as against the
export of raw materials and importation
of finished goods.
Africa’s human resource is potentially
our greatest resource. Africa has the
largest proportion of young people.
About 85% of the population is be-
tween 0 – 44 years category. In Western
Europe, North America and Asia, the
relative age category is about 53%; 60%
and 73%of the population respectively.
A large and educated young popula-
tion, when appropriately harnessed will
be the critical lever in our development
efforts.
Finance Infrastructure
The need to build roads, bridges, and
schools, provide portable water, elec-
trify our cities, towns, and villages; and
meet other infrastructure needs create
major financing and development
opportunities.
And what are the challenges of doing
business in Africa?
For me, I see them as areas of im-
provement not challenges. Issues such
as time to set up business; the privity,
sanctity and enforceability of con-
tracts; a fair and balanced judiciary;
obtaining licenses and permits, weak
regulatory environment; high, multiple
and sometimes ambiguous taxation
laws and practices; rates and charges;
bureaucracy, currency volatility, labour
laws and practices, employee capac-
ity, are some of impediments to doing
business. But they are all challenges of
nation-building, and we have also ob-
served improvements in some countries,
since we (UBA) launched our African
expansion. So, I will talk only on a few
issues.
Infrastructure
The insufficiency of infrastructure – elec-
tricity supply, roads, bridges, water sup-
ply, has manifested in increased cost
of doing business, and limited access
to banking services. For instance, some
of our Country Business Offices run on
generators for extended periods. You
will also be surprised to learn that power
supply, per kWh is very expensive in
some countries. These are opportunities
as there are major economic multiplier
effects that accompany infrastructure
development and renewal initiatives,
anywhere in the world. That is why cities
compete strenuously to win hosting
rights to global tournaments like the
Emeke E. Iweriebor
Executive Director / Deputy CEO, UBA Africa
