One of the largest banks in Nigeria and Africa, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has said about 50% of its earnings come from African operations.
Abiola Bawuah, the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA Africa, who disclosed this said it was made possible because of the bank’s digital offerings and products that help gain large market shares in key markets in Africa.
Speaking to the press during a hybrid media parley on Thursday, Bawuah explained that while devaluations and rising inflation in Nigeria and other African nations where the bank operates impacted overall performance, subsidiaries remained strong and continue to contribute significantly to the growth and development of trade, infrastructure and finance.
She said, “As of last month, none of our African subsidiaries is making a loss. They have all been turning in profits, this is a testament to the fact that they have navigated successfully and have all found their footing.
Bawuah, a Ghanaian national, who was appointed earlier this year became the first female CEO of UBA Africa, to take the group’s total female directors to eight.
She said, “We need the government to regulate the private sector because the sector is struggling. However, the private sector needs to be strong, and that is where UBA comes in. There have been numerous facility programmes we have come up with for consumers in the corporate sector like the Small and Medium Enterprises, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises that are being supported by us.
“It is only in UBA that I know of that you can be an MSME, and once you are faithful to us and you have run the enterprise very well, we are ready to support you, even when you do not have collateral.
“However, Africa must develop the private sector, and when you talk of the private sector, 60 per cent of the private sector in Africa are either SMEs or MSMEs, which would not be able to be developed by the foreign banks, because what they classify as SMEs monetarily is high, and most SMEs in Africa are far below that range.”