UBA wins FT’s The Banker’s Africa top award, best bank in 8 countries

Nigeria headquartered  multinational financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, justified its famous tag, Africa’s global bank, in London, United Kingdom, when it won this year’s ‘Bank of the Year Africa’ and eight of its subsidiaries were named ‘Best Bank’ in as many countries thus stamping its feet as toast of the London event that attracted several African and global financial services industry players.

The Banker’s Awards are organised yearly by The Banker Magazine, a publication of Financial Times of London, the world’s leading business newspaper.

The awards, which were presented to the bank at a ceremony in London, United Kingdom on Thursday, the bank said in a statement, help to cement the bank’s position as the leading financial institution on the African continent.

Across African countries where the awards were administered on country by country basis, eight of its subsidiaries emerged Bank of the Year. UBA operates in 20 countries actoss Africa.

The winning subsidiaries are UBA Cameroon, UBA Chad, UBA Ghana, UBA Cote d’Ivoire, UBA Mozambique, UBA Congo,  UBA Sierra Leone, and UBA Tanzania. The bank said these winners underscore the bank’s dominance and impact across diverse African markets, adding that it is noteworthy that this would be the second time in three years that the bank has won the regional award as the best bank in Africa, as it had emerged winner in 2021.

Oliver Alawuba, UBA’s group managing director, who received the awards on behalf of the bank, expressed his gratitude and excitement about the awards, and said the recognitions come as a reassurance that the bank is on track in its goal of consolidating its leadership position in Africa, and creating superior value for its stakeholders.

“UBA is honoured to be named the Bank of the Year in these eight countries and to receive the overall Award for Africa. This accomplishment is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and innovative spirit of the entire UBA team. We remain committed to delivering top-notch banking services that positively impact the lives of our customers across the continent,” said Alawuba.

The UBA CEO added: “We have our millions of customers across the globe and our many thousands of staff to thank for this. They are the very reason why we keep winning and receiving these accolades.”

UBA, in a statement,  described The Banker Awards as widely recognised as a benchmark for banking excellence globally, noting that its multiple victories underscore its commitment to providing exceptional financial services and superior financial intermediation on the continent.

“As Africa’s Bank of the Year, UBA has demonstrated its ability to navigate the complexities of the African banking landscape and emerge as a leading force in driving economic growth and financial inclusion,” the bank said.

Joy Macknight, editor of The Banker, speaking on UBA’s consistent excellence in the financial services sector across the continent which has earned the bank great accolades overtime said that as always, UBA remains a clear winner across a wide range of criteria, having performed impressively across its footprint with a strong financial performance across most of its markets.

“In a year of strong competition among the continent’s major banking groups, UBA has gained the edge on its rivals to win the Bank of the Year award for Africa for the second time in three years. Congratulations. The award recognises the bank’s strength across Africa, including many of its most competitive markets,” Macknight stated.

Since 1926, the Bank of the Year awards has been celebrating the best of global banking and is regarded as the industry standard for banking excellence.

Only recently, UBA won the 2023 FMDQ Gold Awards in three categories including the Best FX Liquidity Provider,  Dealing Institution of the Year and Best Money Market Liquidity Provider, demonstrating the bank’s impressive capital strength and capacity to provide liquidity to the Nigerian financial market even in the face of harsh economic realities.

In June, UBA released impressive half-year financial results, a performance that was further increased in the third quarter with profit before tax (PBT) soaring to N502.01 billion, shareholders’ funds standing strong at N1.778 trillion, and total assets, reaching N16.24 trillion.

A Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-five (35) million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries, UBA has presence in New York, London, Paris, and Dubai.