October - December 2017 •
The Lion King
• 19
COVER
Bank CEO of the Year 2017:
In recognition of his various achieve-
ments since he took on the leadership
role at UBA, the GMD/CEO, UBA Plc,
Mr Kennedy Uzoka was selected as
the ‘Bank CEO of the Year 2017’ by
New Telegraph Newspapers.
Sectorial Leadership Awards –
Financial Services (Banking):
As a result of the bank’s outstand-
ing operational and stock market
Chief International Correspondent, CNBC, Ms Michelle Caruso – Cabrera; Vice Chairman of the Forbes
Publishing company, Mr. Kip Forbes; Chairman, BCIU, Mr. Bill Mills; Chairman, UBA Plc and Founder,
Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu; Interior Designer and Granddaughter of General Dwight
D. Eisenhower (34th President of the U.S.A), Ms. Anne Eisenhower; CEO, BCIU, Mr. Peter Tichansky
L-R: Anne Eisenhower; Tony Elumelu; Bill Marriott, Chairman
of the Board of Marriott International and Peter Tichansky
President Eisenhower), in his accep-
tance speech stated: ‘President
Eisenhower was a man of many
dimensions and most important is his
leadership. Being recognized today
as a recipient of the inaugural global
entrepreneurship award is an honour
that resonates with so many people
in Africa. What our entrepreneurs in
Africa need is powerful leadership to
further energise, encourage and moti-
vate them to transform the continent.’
He went on to say ‘I hope this will
further spur on other Africans and
friends of Africa, to make sure we work
together for an inclusive prosperity.’
TOE dedicated his award to his wife
and children as well as the staff of
UBA, Transcorp, Heirs Holdings, the
Tony Elumelu Foundation and all the
other companies within his group
of companies. He thanked BCIU on
behalf of entrepreneurs in Africa: ‘On
behalf of the over 3000 entrepreneurs
who have benefitted from the Tony
Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship
programme, I say thank you very
much.
The award ceremony and gala took
place at the historic venue, the
Cipriani on Wall Street in New York.
performance, UBA emerged win-
ner of the 2017 PEARL Awards for
Sectorial Leadership – Financial
Services (Banking) endorsed by the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). Pearl Awards Nigeria is one of
Nigeria’s foremost award recognition
bodies, focused on rewarding corpo-
rate excellence in local institutions and
promoting healthy competitiveness
amongst quoted companies through
growth, diversification and innovation;
ultimately leading to improved perfor-
