Onome Amuge
Oliver Alawuba, UBA Group’s group managing director, has called for a new financing model to drive Africa’s competitiveness, saying the continent must channel its capital and partnerships into productive projects, as he addressed delegates at the UAE-Chad Trade & Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking at the opening session of the UAE-Chad Trade & Investment Forum on Monday, the Group Managing Director of UBA Group told attendees that Africa is moving decisively from dormant promise to active delivery. In a keynote under the theme “Financing African Competitiveness – Building Bridges, Powering Progress”, the UBA GMD laid out a three-part agenda to mobilise capital, structure bankable projects and deepen partnerships, particularly between African institutions and Gulf investors.
“For too long, the narrative around Africa has been one of potential. But I stand before you today to declare that the era of potential is over. We are now in the era of execution,” he said.
The forum, co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Chad, serves as the launchpad for Chad’s national development programme, the Chad Connection 2030.
The plan, valued at an estimated $30 billion and comprising 268 projects across infrastructure, industrialisation and human development, offers a highlight of Africa’s shift toward ambitious, outcome-oriented strategies.
“The $30 billion Chad Connection 2030 plan is not just a document; it is a declaration of intent. … Competitiveness is not born in boardrooms; it is built on the ground,” Alawuba stated.
The UBA executive noted that the capital to transform Africa exists both within and outside the continent. He cited estimates from the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) indicating that Africa’s domestic financial assets total roughly $4 trillion (commercial bank assets at $2.5 trillion, foreign reserves $725 billion, pension assets $455 billion, insurance assets US$320 billion). Yet less than 15 per cent of that pool is channelled into productive infrastructure.
“At UBA, we have always believed that the capital to transform Africa exists, both within and outside our continent. The challenge has never been a lack of capital, but a lack of bankable structures and credible partnerships,” he noted.
Alawuba further emphasised UBA’s position not just as intermediary but as an architect of finance, mobilising domestic institutional capital, partnering with development finance institutions (DFIs) and attracting global investors to African-led infrastructure projects.
He cited deployments in Tanzania, where UBA committed over $400 million to the Julius Nyerere hydropower project; and Nigeria, where the bank invested more than $700 million in the power sector post-privatisation and joined a $10 billion syndication for the Dangote Refinery.
Turning to Chad, Alawuba mapped out the contours of UBA’s engagement with the country’s developmental priorities. He referenced Chad’s targets of 60 per cent electrification by 2030 and extending water access to an additional 11 million people.
“Chad’s target of 60 percent electrification by 2030 will enable factories to operate, cold chains for agriculture to function, and the digital economy to flourish,” he said.
Alawuba added: “It means recognising that water access for 11 million additional people drives economic transformation. Safe water reduces healthcare burdens, enables food-processing industries and unlocks agricultural productivity across the value chain.”
In explaining how financing African competitiveness works, the keynote highlighted a partnership model consisting of international expertise and capital (e.g., Gulf-based and global financial centres), African institutional banking with local knowledge, and DFIs providing de-risking instruments and concessional finance.
The UBA GMD said that for Chad’s $30 billion plan, the multiplier effect is the key that unlocks the vault. UBA, operating in 20 African countries and global centres including Dubai, London and New York, intends to lead on structuring syndicated deals, PPPs for solar and water treatment, digital platforms and regional energy-grid connection.
Reflecting on practical steps, he said: “We are here to be the financial engine, the trusted partner, and the bridge that connects visionary plans to tangible reality.” Emphasising inclusivity, he noted UBA’s presence far beyond capital cities including branches in Mozambique’s Beira, Guinea’s Nzérékoré and Uganda’s Gulu; ensuring that SMEs, farmers and entrepreneurs who form the backbone of the economy are not left behind.
The UAE–Chad Trade & Investment Forum also marked the official unveiling of Chad’s development plan and the signing of multiple memoranda of understanding worth billions of dollars.
