18 •
The Lion King
• October - December 2017
COVER
UBA Chairman honoured with
Dwight D. Eisenhower Global
Entrepreneurship Award:
The Business Council for International
Understanding (BCIU), a non-profit U.S
Business association dedicated to forg-
ing relationships and promoting dia-
logue between business and govern-
ment communities across the globe,
presented the prestigious Dwight D.
Eisenhower Global Entrepreneurship
Award to our Chairman, Tony O.
Elumelu and Bill Marriott, Chairman,
Marriott International Inc.
The award was conferred on Elumelu
in recognition of his outstanding work
in promoting Entrepreneurship on the
continent of Africa and across the
globe. Elumelu, himself a serial entre-
preneur, through his Tony Elumelu
Foundation, has funded over 3,000
African entrepreneurs to date with his
U$D100 million commitment to 10,000
entrepreneurs over a period of 10
years.
At the award’s gala, former American
President George W. Bush, acknowl-
edged Elumelu’s efforts saying ‘I am
impressed with Tony’s philanthropic
initiatives which are powering job
creation and entrepreneurship in a
region(Africa), that is very dear to
Laura and me. To receive an award
founded by President Eisenhower, has
added meaning. Eisenhower provided
example in leadership, which we can
all learn from. Additionally, his belief in
promoting international understand-
ing is a vitally important responsibility.
Chairman who was presented
his award by Kip Forbes and Anne
Eisenhower (the granddaughter of
Senegal, reinforcing the strong fran-
chise of the Group across its cho-
sen markets in Africa. Notably, UBA
Gabon and UBA Senegal won the
same awards in 2016, as both subsid-
iaries of UBA Group remain the banks
to beat in Gabon and Senegal.
Explaining the rationale behind UBA
carting multiple categories in its
December issue, the Banker Magazine
noted that Africa’s economic land-
scape has been unpredictable in
recent times which resulted in reces-
sion in some of Africa’s best perform-
ing economies, while the region as
a whole only expanded by about
1.3% in 2016. “In these conditions only
the most diversified and innovative of
regional banks can prosper. And this
is precisely why the United Bank for
Africa (UBA) has scooped the 2017
regional winner award. For one, the
lender registered impressive top- and
bottom-line growth over the review
period,” it noted.
The magazine went further to enumer-
ate the various achievements record-
ed by UBA group during the peri-
od, noting that earnings for the year
reached N384bn ($1.07bn) signalling
22% growth from its 2015 performance
while profit before tax also grew by
32% to reach N91bn.
According to the organisers, “Equally
impressive is UBA’s capital adequacy
ratio which, at the end of 2016, stood
at 20%, while its nonperforming loan
ratio was a healthy 3.9%. Operating
across 19 markets in Africa, the bank
serves more than 14 million custom-
ers.”
It added that the UBA’s foray into vari-
ous ventures in Africa also helped to
clinch its activities in the year under
consideration, stating, “Beyond the
numbers, the bank has won and
acted on a number of headline deals.
These include the financing a new
stadium in Douala, Cameroon, for the
2019 Africa Cup of Nations for $285m.
In Senegal, more than $250m of trade
finance was provided to the state
oil company, while the lender acted
as arranger and bank agent in the
raising of $160m to finance road infra-
structure. The bank’s digital tax collec-
tion solutions are also helping regional
governments in Senegal and Burkina
Faso.”
The Banker Magazine noted that UBA
is making impressive strides in the digi-
tal space, adding that in terms of
internet banking, UBA processed 7
million transactions valued at more
than N600bn in 2016. Mobile bank-
ing processed transactions valued at
N70bn over the same period. UBA
also launched eMailMoni, a service
that lets customers transfer funds via
e-mail, while Chat Banking allows
clients to perform basic transactions
through social media platforms. “For
these reasons, and others, UBA is the
winner of our 2017 African Bank of the
Year award,” the Magazine stated.
