Tony Elumelu, the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group, has expressed confidence that the bank will meet the new minimum capital requirement set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within the stipulated time frame.
This assurance comes after shareholders of UBA authorized a dividend payment of N78.66 billion for the 2023 financial year. Elumelu’s optimism is based on the fact that some shareholders have indicated their interest to reinvest significant stakes in the bank.
Additionally, UBA operates in 19 other African countries, and there is interest from customers in those countries to become shareholders of the bank.
Speaking at the 62nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Abuja, over the weekend, he said his optimism was hinged on the fact that some of its shareholders have indicated their interest to reinvest significant stakes in the bank.
Elumelu said, “I would say recapitalisation is something that UBA will accomplish before the stipulated time frame. The Reason being that we have shareholders who want to reinvest in their bank.
“We have customers who want to become shareholders of the bank, and remember that UBA not only operates in Nigeria; it operates 19 other African countries and they’ve been yearning to become shareholders of the bank. “And we the board has approved, and today, shareholders have supported it that we will do private placements and these private placements will give opportunity to our customers and friends across Africa to invest in UBA.”
“So, when all of these investments come in, plus the rights, the reinvestment by existing shareholders and even the wider Nigerian public, it would be an easy accomplishment.
“We are happy for what has happened. The shareholders were happy to hear that their bank doubled in terms of our deposit base – our deposit base moved from N9 billion last year to N18 billion this year.
“Also, the shareholders’ fund is now over N2 trillion and that is massive, that is significant and awesome. That gives UBA the impetus to support more customers.”
Elumelu further expressed satisfaction that UBA Africa was now contributing 55 percent to the group’s profit.
He said, “That’s a validation of our dream, a validation of our vision. When we started branching out in 2007, we were very ambitious in our vision and we were looking forward to the day that UBA Africa will contribute at least 50 percent of our profits.
“Today it’s 55 percent, and that is very interesting, very exciting time. But we’ll do more. Nigeria will do more and better and Africa will do a lot more. UBA International that operates in Dubai, UAE, operates in Paris, in London and in America will also do more in terms of contribution to the bottom line. So, interesting times.”
He also commended the management for recruiting about 1,100 young African graduates who were trained for a period of six months and given employment in the bank.
He pointed out that “At a time that companies are laying people off, UBA is employing because UBA believes that the future of Africa is in the hands of our young ones.
“And UBA believes that joblessness and unemployment is a betrayal of a generation and UBA knows that if we want the future of our country in the hands of our young ones, we must prioritise them and give them support.
“So, I am happy and I commend the management and shareholders also applauded that hiring our young ones was very good.”
UBA is well-positioned to achieve the new CBN recapitalization target ahead of the deadline, thanks to shareholder support and strategic initiatives.
