The wide range of opportunities, which abound on the African continent, was again brought to the fore on Friday in Lagos as the Deputy Managing Director, Ag. of the United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, stated that the future belongs to Africans, considering the business opportunities that thrive in the continent.
Uzoka said this in Lagos at a ceremony in which for the third year in a row, the pan African banking group, the United Bank for Africa Plc, joined the rest of the world to commemorate Africa Day – a day set aside to celebrate African diversity and success, as well as highlight the cultural and economic potential that exists in the African continent.
On the bedrock of the experience garnered by UBA Plc, one of the largest financial services providers on the continent, Uzoka noted that Africa remains the only continent that would guarantee above average returns on investments, coupled with availability of rare minerals and human resources.
He said that UBA in the last two years had deemed it appropriate to observe Africa Day and was committed to making May 25 every year an annual celebration.
He noted that the day was a celebration of the pride in ‘who we are’ as Africans, and enjoined staff to continue to push for excellence as a leading institution.
“The continent has huge growth potentials as business opportunities abound for us to harness by effectively leveraging our Pan-African network in areas of service excellence, product innovation and operational efficiencies. This year’s theme for the celebration is ‘We are Africa,’ validating our positioning and spread across the continent as one of the largest financial services providers,” he said.
Highlights of the day included breaking of kola nut, cultural display troupe performance from various African cultural settings amongst other things.
Africa Day, held on May 25 every year, is the annual commemoration of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity, now known as the African Union.
The objective is to celebrate the achievements of African people and businesses that have brought pride to the continent, globally and inspire Africans globally to strive daily for distinction through ethics and diligence.
In line with its vision to become a leading financial institution in Africa, UBA has expanded its reach into 19 African countries, namely Nigeria, Ghana, Cote D’Ivore and Sierra Leone.
The rest are Uganda, Liberia, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Benin, Senegal, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Mozambique, Congo DRC and Congo Brazzaville.
The list keeps growing as UBA says it aspires to become the dominant pan-African financial service institution.
Recently, during the Annual General Meeting of the Bank held in Lagos, the Group Managing Director, UBA Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, informed the shareholders that the Bank’s operations on the continent has contributed to the Bank’s impressive Q1 results, contributing over 20 per cent to the Group’s bottom line.
He further promised that as its African operations is consolidated, their contributions to the Group’s profit will be equal to its Nigerian operations by 2015.