January - March 2016 •
The Lion King
• 17
OLIVER ALAWUBA |
ASK THE EXECUTIVE
REGIONAL CEO, ANGLOPHONE AFRICA
OLIVER
ALAWUBA
Driven by a passion to create
positive change, Oliver
Alawuba is a man that loves
simplicity, openness and
forthrightness. Oliver, who
is happily married with kids,
believes his deep Roman
Catholic background informed
his upbringing and way of life.
He is a people person, eager
to serve and be useful to
others. This is the backbone
of his banking career as
banking, to him, is about
service.
H
e has handled a number of sig-
nificant portfolios in UBA includ-
ing MD/CEO, UBA Ghana,
Directorate Head, Public Sector and
Group Executive, Personal Banking. He
was recently appointed the Regional
CEO, Anglophone Africa.
In this interview, Oliver talks about his
new role and shares his views on doing
business in Africa.
You were recently made the Regional
CEO, Anglophone Africa. What does
this new role entail?
UBA Africa business is becoming more
significant for UBA Group as it cur-
rently contributes close to 25% of the
Group’s revenue. The objective is to
drive the contribution to 50% and
there are huge potentials in the 18
UBA Africa countries to achieve this.
My role is therefore to galvanize the
huge resources UBA has deployed in
Anglophone countries and achieve
more market share and higher finan-
cial performance.
Have you had any challenges settling
into your new role?
I see myself as an African and I am
very passionate about Africa. I believe
in the Africa rising concept, the Pan–
Africanism ideas of our Independence
African Leaders and the Africapitalism
model, presently espoused by our
Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu. These
make it easier for me to fit into my
present role and to excel.
What has surprised you most about
doing business in Anglophone Africa?
I am surprised that Africans eas-
ily accept to do business with people
from other continents and resist doing
business with fellow Africans. I am chal-
lenged that African countries do less
than 20% of their business with each
other. Our policy makers and busi-
ness men hardly connect with each
other in the development agenda for
the continent. We need to quickly do
away with these ‘silo mentalities’ and
move Africa forward.
What should an investor looking to do
business in Africa be on the lookout
for?
You see, more than half of the world’s
arable land is in Africa. The world’s
largest concentration of mineral
deposits are still with us. Our growing
population of over one billion are
strongly made up of young people
whose skills are rising too. Our huge
infrastructure gaps and low industrial-
ization status are major opportunities.
Again, Africa offers the highest return
on investment with political risks and
cost of doing business in downward
slide. I believe that Africa is where
serious investors should flock. Don’t
forget that African hospitality is better
experienced.
You have been around Africa a lot;
can you tell us what you love about
the continent?
Firstly, nothing beats the African hos-
pitality. The warmth and acceptance
you receive across the continent is
truly profound.
Secondly, the resilience of the African
people is evident. Notwithstanding
the poverty, political uncertainties
and vast gaps in social and physical
infrastructure, the African spirit remains
unbroken.
The rate of socio-economic transfor-
mation across Africa is also highly
commendable, though there is still a
lot of work to be done. Today, Africa’s
economy is one of the fastest growing
regional economies in the world. Six of
the ten fastest growing economies in
the world are in Africa and that in my
opinion is very significant.
There is also increasing political stabil-
ity and further entrenchment of demo-
cratic governance in Africa, as exem-
plified in Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso
and several other countries. These will
further improve the attractiveness of
Africa for foreign investments that is
