The Board of Directors of United Bank for Africa Plc has announced the appointment of Mrs. Abiola Bawuah as Chief Executive Officer of UBA Africa.
Bawuah will also join the Group Board as an Executive Director, overseeing operations across the continent, outside Nigeria.
UBA also operates in 19 other African countries, France, United Kingdom, United States and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Bawuah, a Ghanaian national, is the first female CEO of UBA Africa, an appointment that further demonstrates the bank’s commitment to diversity. The Group Board now includes eight female Directors.
She was CEO, UBA Ghana, and formerly Regional CEO, West Africa, supervising the operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
Group Board Chairman Mr Tony O. Elumelu said Abiola has contributed significantly to the growth of UBA Africa for close to a decade.
“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,” he said.
In other new executive roles, Chris Ofikulu becomes the Regional CEO, UBA West Africa. Ofikulu has over two decades of banking experience spanning corporate, commercial, and retail banking.
Uzoechina Molokwu is new Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of UBA Ghana, subject to local regulatory approvals. He was the Executive Director, Business Development, UBA Côte d’Ivoire, and has over 23 years banking experience.
Ayokunle Olajubu will be the Managing Director/CEO UBA Liberia, subject to approvals. He currently drives compliance across Africa subsidiaries and comes with 30 years banking experience in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and the Gambia.
Theresa Henshaw has been appointed as CEO of UBA UK, subject to 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.
Adeyemi Adeleke, 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 within and beyond Africa.
However, High Chief Samuel Oni, an independent non-executive Director, has left the Board following the expiration of his tenure. He joined the UBA Group in January 2015 and served for eight years.
Mr Elumelu expressed his appreciation to High Chief Oni for his commitment, leadership, extensive contributions, and wished him the best in his future endeavours.
Operating in 20 African countries, New York, London, Paris and the UAE, UBA 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 continent, with 25,000 employees group wide and serving over 37 million customers globally.
