UBA Total Assets Hit N8.5tr,Promises To Sustain Growth

The United Bank for Africa has recorded a total assets growth of N8.5 trillion, representing 11% growth rate in the year 2021.

The bank has assured shareholders and investors of its unwavering commitment to sustain its current growth trajectory even as its efforts at business diversification across Africa and beyond continues to yield increasing returns.

Speaking at UBA’s 60th Annual General Meeting in Abuja,its Group Chairman,Tony Elumelu, noted that the bank’s strategic investment decisions over the past few years have translated to huge returns for its investors, despite the challenging business environment witnessed in the last two years.

“I am proud of how as a Group, we have been able to further consolidate on the new capabilities we have built, novel customer solutions we have deployed, efficiency gains recorded and the growth prospects we have leveraged from a recovering world,” Elumelu stated, adding “These were the building blocks for the very strong financial performance and the growth delivered by your Group in 2021, further confirming the wisdom of the investments we made and the strategy we have pursued, to ensure the diversification and sustainability of our business model.”

Expressing his delight to shareholders and customers who have stood with UBA for decades, Elumelu said he was confident of the bank’s capacity to sustain the momentum especially as economic activities recover from the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic.

UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kennedy Uzoka, gave details who of the improved performance of the bank’s subsidiaries in the financial year in view

“We are happy that the global community recognises the role our Group is playing in the transformation of the African economic landscape through innovative and customer focused banking services.”

Shareholders who spoke at the meeting including Sir Sunny Nwosu, Alhaji Farouk Umar, Mr. Nonah Awoh, Mr. Patrick Ajuda, Mrs. Bisi Bakare and Chief Timothy Adesiyan, commended the board and management of UBA, for the impressive financials which have translated to higher dividends for shareholders.

“Despite the economic situation UBA has been able to grow profitability and increase its customer base. If you compare the dividend with the share price of UBA, you will see that our dividend yield is very high. No bank in Nigeria has been able to achieve this, and I therefore commend the UBA board,” Umar noted in his remarks.

Crypto Transactions: CBN Fines UBA, Access Bank, Others N800m

The Central Bank of Nigeria has imposed  N800m fine on Access Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC, and the United Bank for Africa Plc for violating regulations barring customers from transacting in cryptocurrencies.
The penalties were part of efforts by the apex bank to ensure that banks implement an order to block trading in cryptocurrencies due to the threat they pose to Nigeria’s financial system.
The report disclosed  that Access Bank was fined N500m for failure to close customers’ crypto accounts, according to a filing with the Nigerian Exchange Limited while UBA incurred a N100m penalty for digital-currency transactions by a customer.
It said that the Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC, Wole Adeniyi, during an investor conference call in Lagos on Tuesday revealed that his bank was fined N200m ($478,595) for two accounts alleged to have been used for crypto transactions.
He said that while Stanbic IBTC followed the apex bank’s directive, the transactions it was sanctioned for might have passed through its system undetected.
He noted that the CBN was able to detect the relevant transactions using an “advanced capability” that Nigerian banks don’t have access to, and they’ve asked the apex bank to share the technology.
“It doesn’t seem that they are going to entertain a refund, but they are now sharing intelligence with us to be able to kind of deter clients,” he added.
UBA Staff Docks For N452m Fraud

The Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,has arraigned one Judith Nneka Nwagwu, a staff of the United Bank for Africa, before Justice D.A Onyefulu of the Anambra State High Court sitting in Onitsha.
She was arraigned on a  seven count charge bordering on forgery and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N452,047,000.
She  was alleged to have fraudulently obtained N192,000,000 (One Hundred and Ninety Million Naira) from a complainant whom she was his account officer, on the pretext that the bank had $400,000 for sale at the rate of N480 per dollar.
Her employers also petitioned the commission alleging that the defendant forged two fixed deposit certificates and fraudulently obtained the total sum of N260,047.000 ( Two Hundred and Sixty Million, Forty-Seven Thousand naira)Million from a customer under the guise of fixing the money for him.