18 •
The Lion King
• April - June 2015
sound glamorous? It also sounds like
high pressure.
What sectors of the economy would
you say have the most lucrative
deals? How strong is the bank’s play
in those sectors?
Generally, high growth sectors, import
and export businesses and net placers
of funds are important and lucrative
to us. Recently, the bank re-structured
the Corporate Bank unit to maintain
a strong focus on the identified sec-
tors. This has seen us playing dominant
roles in Telecomms, Travel, Logistics,
Power, FCMG and construction, build-
ing materials. However, Nigeria is very
dynamic and for us, the biggest chal-
lenge is to be able to re-tool proac-
tively to gain the benefits we see in
the market at any point in time. We
have set a high standard of achieving
average market share of 30%. For us,
its 30% or burst!
What happens when the big deals are
not rolling in?
It is a cause for concern because our
budget never pauses. The next deal
is constantly on our minds and that
is why we keep an eye (both eyes,
actually) on our deal pipeline for the
quarter. When the pipeline is shrink-
ing, we first look inwards to be sure
we are set up correctly and that we
are taking good advantage of oppor-
tunities in the market. Sometimes, it
will be because we have not done
a few things correctly, so we re-tune.
At some other times, we deliberately
stand down, just to assess and under-
stand new risks thrown up by changes
in policy or in the economy. It is never
a dull moment for us.
How are you deriving maximum value
from your existing corporate custom-
ers?
In simple terms, our sweet spot is to be
involved in all aspects of our clients’
cash cycle, while involving branch
banking and other subsidiaries to take
up aspects they are better equipped
to handle. We try to ensure that the
decision for a client to leave or stay
is not an easy one to make for them.
That way, we aim for a long Life Time
Value.
What are you doing to generate more
current and savings accounts driven
deposits?
Our deposit strategies are firm-
ly embedded in our value chain
approach to business. As we are col-
lecting, we also ensure that the client
spends from their account with us and
thus we improve average “hold” of
deposits.
How has the current turbulence in the
Forex market in Nigeria affected your
business?
The turbulence has heightened upside
exchange rate risks. Downstream,
it has caused higher prices, lower
spending power and liquidity squeeze
as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
tries to protect our reserves. All these
portend higher non-performing loans
down the road as losses incurred by
business will settle on banks’ books.
Our first line of defense is to ensure that
it would not settle on the books of UBA.
We have had to work with our clients
to de-risk their plays and come up with
new ways of doing business. Provide
additional support in form of loans for
the companies with sustainable strate-
gies as well as sleep less.
What policy changes are you expect-
ing from the new Nigerian govern-
ment? What will be the expected
impact on your business?
From the posture of the president and
the few handlers we can identify, we
expect to see policies geared towards
diversifying the country’s earning
base, infrastructure development
and improved transparency in gover-
nance. All these represent opportuni-
ties for us. We also expect to see more
changes in the foreign exchange laws
and rate as we do not expect that
crude prices will rebound to $100 plus
levels before the end of the year. Not
less than 65% of outflows from our
customers’ accounts go towards pur-
chase of FX. So, what happens to the
FX market is strategic to our business
What have been the high points of
your banking career?
It is too numerous to mention. My
real achievements are the friends and
contacts I have made all through my
career and the businesses I have been
able to help in growing.
What would you rather not live with-
out?
HIS Grace
What strategies have you adopted
to ensure you spend more time with
your family considering your very busy
schedule?
Anytime not spent on work or with my
customers is dedicated to my family.
I do try to reserve Sundays exclusively
for my family, unless a customer has
an urgent need. My family under-
stands this and has remained very
supportive.
We try to ensure that
the decision for a cli-
ent to leave or stay
is not an easy one...
We aim for a long
Life Time Value.”
Ask the Executive
| Anya Duroha
