Tony Elumelu, Chairman United Bank for Africa (UBA) has said that the bank plans to increase its presence in Africa outside Nigeria to 25 countries from 18 now and inject capital into its subsidiaries in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Elumelu revealed also that the bank was focused on “harnessing the potential represented by the wider African economy through its expansion plans”.
Elumelu said on the sidelines of a news conference in Lagos late on Tuesday that “Our intention is to be the leader in African financial services.”
UBA, one of Nigeria’s largest banks with more 700 branches, has subsidiaries across Africa in countries such as Ghana and Ivory Coast in the west, Kenya and Uganda in the east and Mozambique and Zambia in the south.It also has offices in London and New York.
The banks operations in the 18 African countries outside Nigeria now contribute more than 25 per cent to group operating revenue.
Last year, UBA’s pretax profit rose 22 percent from a year earlier to 68.5 billion naira while gross earnings climbed 10 percent to 315 billion.