30 | The Lion King
News Roundup
UBA and MoneyGram Launch New
Outbound Money Transfer Service in
Nigeria
UBA Chairman Launches Empowerment
Fund for Nigerian Distressed Communities
Nigeria’s money transfer business
landscape recently entered a new
phase as UBA and MoneyGram
launched the first outbound money
transfer service in Nigeria with Phillips
Oduoza, Group Managing Director/
CEO, UBA Plc becoming the first
person to perform MoneyGram out-
bound money transfer transaction
from Nigeria.
The UBA GMD had a live demonstra-
tion of the outbound money transfer
service by sending cash to the Dep-
uty Managing Director (DMD), UBA
Ghana, Mr. Usman Isiaka.
The newly launched MoneyGram
outbound money transfer service
allows Nigerians to send money
abroad (in Naira) through any UBA
Business Office (BO) in Nigeria or
Africa while the funds are received
in the local currency of the receiving
country.
The launch event held at UBA’s Head
Office in Marina, Lagos, Nigeria.
Tony O. Elumelu, Founder of The Tony
Elumelu Foundation, Chairman of
the Boards of UBA, Heirs Holdings and
Transcorp, has launched The Elumelu
Nigeria Empowerment Fund to help
revitalize the economies of post con-
flict and disaster communities across
Nigeria.
L-R: Divisional Head, Retail
Products, Olumide Osunyomi;
Regional Manager, Anglophone
West Africa, MoneyGram, Kemi
Okusanya and GMD/CEO, Phillips
Oduoza at the launch ceremony
President Goodluck Jonathan (middle) flanked by Vice
President Namadi Sambo and Tony Elumelu, Founder, Tony
Elumelu Foundation and Chairman, UBA during the launch
at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. With themare Diezani
Allison-Madueke, Minister of PetroleumResources (left) and
Stanley Lawson, Director, Central Bank of Nigeria (right)
The Fund was launched by
President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan of Nigeria at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja on
Thursday. The President
made a surprise announce-
ment of an additional
N250million donation to-
wards the initiative on behalf
of the Federal Government
of Nigeria.
The Elumelu Nigeria Empow-
erment Fund was created
out of the N2.5 billion do-
nated by The Tony Elume-
lu Foundation and Heirs
Holdings companies, in July
2014 during the Presidential
Fundraising Dinner for the
Victims Support Fund.
An initial N1 billion was
immediately disbursed to
the Victims Support Fund in
furtherance of the govern-
ment’s initiative for dis-
tressed communities across
Nigeria, while the remaining
N1.5 billion has been put
down as the initial seed
money for The Elumelu Nige-
ria Empowerment Fund.
Rasheed Olaoluwa, MD/CEO, Bank of Industry; Phil-
lips Oduoza, GMD/CEO, UBA Plc and Tony Elumelu
at the reception, after the ceremony
