United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is Africa’s Global Bank with a uniquely scaled platform. Strong retail franchise reaching over 7.2 million customers, over 700 business offices, in 19 countries in Africa including Nigeria plus New York, London and Paris. More that 1580ATM and 8000 POS terminals.as at the end of December 2013, the company had about 12,900 staffs worldwide
Formed by the merger of the commercially focused UBA and the retail focused Standard Trust Bank in 2005, the Bank purpose to be a leading financial services provider in Africa. UBA was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1970, and has since evolved into a pan-African full service financial institution. The Group adopted the holding company model in July 2011. As of December 2011, the valuation of UBA Group’s total assets was approximately US$12.3 billion (NGN:1.94 trillion), with shareholders’ equity of about US$1.07 billion (NGN:170 billion)
The successful merger of the then old generation UBA with the vibrant Standard Trust Bank and subsequent acquisition of Continental Trust bank gave birth to one of the biggest and widest distributed commercial banks in sub-sahara Africa. The union was also the first successful corporate combination in the history of Nigerian banking.
The quest to build a strong domestic and African brand intensified in 2008 when UBA made further acquisitions of two liquidated banks, Gulf Bank and Liberty Bank while at the same time intensifying its African footprint with the establishment of UBA Cameroon, UBA Cote d Ivoire, UBA Uganda, UBA Sierra Leone, and UBA Liberia as well as the acquisition of a 51% interest in Banque Internationale du Burkina Faso, which was the largest bank in the country with 40% market share.
UBA’s history dates back to 1948 when the British and French Bank Limited (“BFB”) commenced business in Nigeria and the erstwhile STB and CTB both in 1990. Following Nigeria’s independence from Britain, UBA was incorporated in 1961 to take over the business of BFB. Although today’s UBA emerged at a time of industry consolidation induced by regulation, the consolidated UBA was borne out of a desire to lead the domestic sector to a new era of global relevance by championing the creation of the Nigerian consumer finance market, leading a private/public sector partnership at supporting the acceleration of Nigeria’s economic development, and growing the institution from a banking to a one-stop financial services institution, while spreading its footprints across Africa to earn the reputation as the face of banking in the continent.
As one Africa’s largest and most profitable banks, United Bank for Africa became the first bank in Nigeria to institute a foundation, UBA Foundation. Funded with 1% of PBT, UBA Foundation is committed to the socio-economic betterment of the communities in which the bank operates, focusing on development in the areas of Environment, Education, Economic Empowerment and Special projects (“EEES”).
Now fully positioned as a pan-African bank, the UBA Group is firmly in the forefront of driving the renaissance of the African economy and is well positioned as a one-stop financial services institution, with growing reputation as the face of banking on the continent.
