UBA Group emerges Africa’s Bank of The Year again.

UBA has also clinched the Best Bank of The Year awards in nine of its 20 African subsidiaries, bringing its total awards this year to ten.

The recognitions are by the Banker.com, a leading global finance news publication run by the Financial Times of London.

This year’s edition of the annual Bank of The Year Awards was held at a grand ceremony at the Peninsula, London, recently. 

The Banker’s awards are widely regarded as the most respected and rigorous in the global banking industry.

It celebrates institutions that demonstrate outstanding performance, innovation and strategic execution.

The Chief Executive Officer of UBA UK, Deji Adeyelure, received the awards on behalf of the Group Managing Director/CEO, Oliver Alawuba.

Adeyelure was accompanied by the UBA’s Head Business Development, Mark Ifashe, and the Head, Financial Institutions, Shilpam Jha.

UBA won the Best Bank of The Year awards in nine of its 20 African subsidiaries, underscoring its strength across West, Central and Southern Africa and highlighting the depth of its Pan-African franchise.

UBA Benin, UBA Chad, UBA Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), UBA Liberia, UBA Mali, UBA Mozambique, UBA Senegal, UBA Sierra Leone, and UBA Zambia, all came out tops as the best banks in their respective countries.

Banker.com on why UBA won 

The Banker.com said UBA Group emerged winner of the coveted award for the third time in five years, because “punches above its weight against its larger African rivals” time after time.

“The bank this year also takes home nine separate country awards (one more than it gained for its last continental win in 2024), equivalent to around a quarter of the awards for the continent, and more than any of its continent-wide rivals,” it added. 

The Banker.com what was more impressive is the fact that the awards were won across a broad geographic spread, going to lenders based in the Economic Community of West African States (Benin, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and former member Mali), the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Chad, Republic of Congo) and the Southern African Development Community (Mozambique, Zambia). 

“Its award wins were particularly notable in the highly competitive categories for Benin and Mozambique,” he added, while highlighting UBA’s strong financial performance and commitment to future growth. 

In 2024, the Group recorded a 46.8 per cent increase in assets and a 6.1 per cent rise in pre-tax profits in local currency terms, while continuing to invest significantly in talent and technology. 

It detailed that West Africa remains UBA’s heartland, with operating revenue and profit increasing by 87 per cent and 89 per cent respectively in H1 2025.

The bank’s digital and innovation leadership was equally recognised. During the year under review, and launched its Advance Top-Up buy-now-pay-later feature on the *919# USSD platform, expanding financial access for customers, while the bank’s chatbot Leo continued its strong growth trajectory, with transaction volumes rising by 29 per cent year-on-year in H1 2025. 

Notably, in August, Leo became the first African banking chatbot to enable cross-border payments via the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

Award affirms UBA’s customer-first philosophy…

UBA’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Oliver Alawuba, said the recognition affirms the bank’s long-term strategy and customer-first philosophy.

“This honour reflects the strength of our Pan-African network, the trust of our customers, and the dedication of our people. Winning Africa’s Bank of the Year for the third time in five years is not by chance; it is a testament to disciplined execution, innovation, and a deep understanding of the markets we serve,” Alawuba said.

He said the UBA’s nine country awards across diverse regions of Africa show that the “group is not just growing, but growing with impact”. 

Alawuba said UBA remains committed to “driving financial inclusion, supporting economic development, and deploying technology that makes banking simpler, faster, and more accessible to Africans everywhere”. 

About UBA 

United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group-wide and serving over 45 million customers globally. 

Operating in twenty African countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting-edge technology.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3650 of Tuesday December 09, 2025