Speeches Delivered by Group Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu and GMD-CEO, UBA, Mr Oliver Alawuba at the 65th Annual General Meeting of United Bank for Africa(UBA).
Elumelu’s Speech:
In 2024, our group marked our 75th anniversary, 75 solid years of unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and service. 75 years. 75 years is an extraordinary anniversary to achieve. Our existence of three-quarters of a century is a testament to our resilience and institutionalization, a testament to our consistency and our firmness of purpose. Throughout our over seven decades, our group has demonstrated a capacity to adapt, to transform, and to disrupt, establish, further and uphold a fundamental responsibility to our customers and shareholders.
20 years ago, we charted a new course in our expansion across Africa and the world. That strategy today is delivering exceptional results, and we continue to do so. Since we are celebrating our 75th anniversary and remembering those who made this possible, may I request Rashid Abrashi Olaoluwa to stand up as our Pioneer Africa.
I honor our founders and look ahead with confidence as we advance our mission as Africa’s global bank. We all are here today because some people had the vision, the foresight to start this journey. Our job is just setting and making sure we create further value on what they started. And so that’s why we have today in the front row, all our elders, our mentors.
The group delivered another very strong year, generating gross revenue of 3.2 trillion Naira, and profit after tax of 767 billion naira. We successfully sustained our deposit mobilization efforts, growing total deposits by 42% to 24.6 trillion, up from 17.4 trillion in the corresponding period of 2023. Additionally, our loan book expanded by 35% to 7.5 trillion, up from 5.5 trillion, demonstrating our commitment to fund growth and make our contribution to Nigeria and Africa’s economic transformation. UBA group maintained a well-structured and diversified balance sheet with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at 30.3 trillion and 3.4 trillion respectively. For context, and because it’s a national bank, and some people here might not understand, the current 3.4 trillion shareholders’ fund is $3.2 billion.
These very strong results reflect the execution of our long-term strategy, the hard work of our dedicated staff, providing tangible solutions to real needs and delivering value, innovation, and service to all.
UBA is proud to support businesses, government, and consumers across Africa globally. It is worth repeating, we serve over 45 million people across four continents, in 24 countries, and with a corporate client base that is truly global. So when your bank is serving 45 million people, that is many countries put together as a population.
As shareholders, I believe you want to know the efforts we’re making to comply with Central Bank directive to increase the minimum capital requirement for international commercial banks to N500 billion.
Our current capital in the year of 2024 was N116 billion. However, following the rights issue that we launched in November last year, which was oversubscribed, 251 billion has been verified and approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
However, given that it is a rights issue, we could only take up N240 billion in the amount we set out to raise in the rights issue. This left an oversubscribed position of N11.6 billion naira, which had to be returned to the shareholders. So we thank you, shareholders, for your unprecedented confidence and commitment to UBA.
With this success, our new capital is now N355.2 billion. The remaining 144.8 billion required to meet the regulatory threshold will be raised later this year, and the proceeds from the rights issue will be duly invested in additional technologies and Business Growth in Nigeria, across Africa and the globe. This will further strengthen our group’s seven decades of impressive performance.
ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we are not just a financial institution. We are an engaged and active corporate citizen. We are conscious of our responsibility to do good as well as doing well. For us, we cannot succeed if our continent, our countries, our communities, and environments do not do well. We continue to integrate ESG into every aspect of our operations. In 2024, we planted 4,550 seedlings across various locations. This initiative has the potential to offset approximately 212,000 kg of carbon emission, contributing to a greener and more sustainable future.
Our Read Africa Initiative distributed over 13,000 books to youth across our continent, helping to rekindle the reading culture. These efforts reflect our dedication to environmental stewardship, financial inclusion, and social progress. And your bank received quite some awards also. We were recognized as the Bank of the Year in five of the 20 countries where we operate in Africa by Bankers Magazine. The winners are UBA Kenya, CEO, stand up please. Let them acknowledge. UBA Burkina Faso, UBA Ghana, UBA Mali, and UBA Zambia.
Additionally, we were named Best Regional Bank West Africa at the African Bankers Award. These accolades reaffirm our group’s commitment to innovation, financial inclusion, and driving economic growth on the continent.
I cannot end my remarks without further appreciation. I’d like to express my deep appreciation to those who make our progress possible, to all those who have contributed to our 75-year journey, I will say thank you very much.
To our management and staff, executive management, led by our capable Group Managing Director and CEO, thank you all for your consistent hard work and commitment. Your dedication is critical to the excellence we deliver in all that we do.
To our boards, past and present, both at the group level and in our subsidiaries, thank you for your steady leadership and guidance. To our valued customers, thank you for your continued trust and support. You are the reason for our existence.
To our shareholders, we appreciate your confidence in our strategy. Your support is essential as we remain focused on creating long-term value for all stakeholders. And finally, to our regulators, thank you for your continued support and guidance on compliance and governance matters. As a group that operates in multiple jurisdictions, we remain committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.
Fellows, I wish you all the very best for the remainder of 2025 and welcome you again as we continue our extraordinary journey, journey of creating and executing excellence on the continent of Africa. Thank you for your confidence in Africa’s global brand.
Distinguished shareholders, I will now ask a representative of the external auditors, Ernst & Young, to summarily present the auditor’s report. Thank you.
Response by GMD/CEO , Oliver Alawuba
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you to our shareholders for your support. We are very happy that you our shareholders are happy, because when you are happy, then we are happy. I remember a few years ago when we came here, you asked us to move from ‘Kobo Kobo’ dividend payment.
I think we have moved far from those difficult times, and we continue to advance beyond that point to do well.
I would like to tell you that the primary focus of UBA is the customer. The customer is the reason why we exist as UBA. We want to make sure that we improve the customer experience. These days, the best way to improve customer experience when serving about 45 million customers around the world is through digital banking. So we’re investing heavily in digital banking to improve your experience when you interact digitally or even physically with UBA. This is very important.
I encourage everyone here to make sure you have your own card. It’s very important, and that’s what we are raising money. You asked what we are going to do with the money we are raising? We are going to use it to invest in digital platforms and improve your digital experience with UBA. You know it is a world of artificial intelligence. You have heard that we are moving in that direction too, because that will improve our service to you.
Today, we are in 24 countries. Someone asked about when we are going to expand our presence. In France, we are going to do that very soon. We’re also expanding to Saudi Arabia, and the only way we can serve all of these countries effectively is through digital technology, which is why we are going to invest more in this area.
What you call complaints, we don’t call them complaints. We call them feedback. This feedback is important to us. We use it to improve your service experience. What we have done is establish what we call a customer fulfillment center. Any complaint will go to them and they will address it very quickly. We’re also improving the technology around managing feedback and enhancing your experience, so that once you send any complaint, we’ll respond promptly.
We’re also using technology to ensure there’s no fraud in your account. If you’ve noticed, this has improved significantly. We have invested to ensure that any money you deposit with UBA will remain secure. Anytime you access your account, your money will be there. We are improving and doing our best to ensure that the next time we meet, we’ll be able to move closer to, if not exceed, the seven Naira target that has been set for us.
Thank you very much, shareholders.