UBA appoints Abiola Bawuah first female CEO for Africa operations.

Her appointment was announced by the Board of Directors of Africa’s global bank Monday January 30. With the appointment, Bawuah will also join the Group Board as an Executive Director, overseeing the group’s operations across the African continent, outside Nigeria. 

UBA, it should be noted, operates in 19 African countries beyond Nigeria, in addition to global operations in New York, London, Paris and the UAE.

The appointment of Bawuah, a Ghanaian national, as the first female CEO of UBA Africa, further demonstrates UBA’s commitment to diversity. With the appointment of Bawuah, the UBA Group Board now includes eight female directors.

Prior to her appointment, Bawuah was Regional CEO, West Africa, supervising the Group’s operations in nine subsidiaries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. She had previously held the role of CEO, UBA Ghana.

Speaking on the new appointment, the Group Board Chairman, Tony O. Elumelu said: “Abiola has contributed significantly to the growth of UBA Africa for close to a decade”.

The Group Board Chairman added that: “She brings a wealth of experience in commercial banking, and stakeholder engagement.  It also gives me great pleasure that with her appointment, the UBA Group Board has now become a majority female board”.

UBA Group announces other appointments

The UBA Group release also announced other persons to hold other executive positions.  

Among the appointees were Chris Ofikulu, who becomes the Regional CEO, UBA West Africa. Ofikulu has over two decades of banking experience spanning corporate, commercial, and retail banking.

Also, Uzoechina Molokwu will take on the role as Deputy Managing Director, DMD of UBA Ghana, subject to local regulatory approvals.  

He was previously the Executive Director, Business Development – UBA Côte d'Ivoire and has over 23 years banking experience.

The Group Board also appointed Ayokunle Olajubu as Managing Director/CEO UBA Liberia, subject to local regulatory approvals.

He currently drives compliance across Africa subsidiaries and comes with 30 years banking experience in Nigeria and other African countries, including Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire and the Gambia.

Also appointed was Theresa Henshaw as new CEO of UBA UK, subject to local regulatory approvals.

She was previously the DMD, Business Development, UBA America and joined the Group as ED, Business Development at UBA UK.

Usman Isiaka, currently CEO, UBA Sierra Leone, will be the Deputy CEO in UBA America, subject to local regulatory approvals while Adeyemi Adeleke, the former CEO of UBA, UK is now the Group Treasurer.  

Adeleke will be working to unlock the immense value in the Group’s multi-jurisdictional balance sheet, leveraging on its presence in 24 countries within and beyond Africa.

Samuel Oni retires from the Group Board

In addition to the executive appointments, UBA also announced the retirement of High Chief Samuel Oni, an independent non-executive Director, from the Board following the expiration of his tenure.  

He joined the UBA Group in January 2015 and served on the Board of the Group for eight years.

The Group Chairman, Elumelu expressed his appreciation to High Chief Oni, for his commitment, leadership and extensive contributions to the UBA Group and on behalf of the Board, wished him the very best in all his future endeavours.

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

UBA is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group wide and serving over 37 million customers globally.