By Grace Q. Bryant
The Executive Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Abiola Bawuah, has emphasized the importance of securing funding and forging strategic partnerships.
UBA’s CEO underscored the urgency for concerted efforts to address the continent’s infrastructure deficit, while acknowledging the pivotal role infrastructure plays in driving economic growth and enhancing livelihoods on the continent.
Speaking in a panel discussion on infrastructure development in Africa, during the launch of the 2025 Africa Prosperity Dialogue, Madam Bawuah highlighted the presence of regional, commercial, and development banks in Africa which, according to her, could offer the needed support for infrastructure financing to propel growth in Africa.
She stressed the importance of collaboration among all financial stakeholders towards pooling funds for Africa’s development, just as she took time to highlight UBA’s contribution to infrastructure development over the years in Africa, including Ghana, and expressed the bank’s willingness to partner with governments and other entities to drive Africa’s development agenda with regards to closing the infrastructure gap in Africa.
She also emphasized the need for sustainable funding mechanisms, adding, “Our quest for good infrastructure like roads, railways, telecoms, etc. must be paid for, and therefore we must demonstrate the ability to secure the funding,” she stated as she cited UBA’s financing of a $300 million road project in southern Africa, which is sustained through tolling mechanisms.
Bawuah also called for dialogues aimed at reducing funding costs to make lending more viable for banks and urged the African Prosperity Network (APN) to convene discussions between banks, the Bank of Ghana, the Business Community, and other stakeholders to achieve this goal.
The Executive Director also advocated for a review of Stock Exchanges in Africa, noting their underperformance and suggesting improvements to better support infrastructure development initiatives across Africa with long term funds.
The panel discussion also featured prominent Personalities including the Group CEO of Telecel, Moh Damush, the Director-General of SSNIT, Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Marfo, and John Peter Amewu, Minister for Railway Development in Ghana, emphasizing the collaborative efforts needed from various sectors to drive infrastructure development in order to harness the opportunities that abound in Africa.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than 35 million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.
With presence in New York, London, Paris and Dubai, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services.
