In obvious recognition of its brand acceptance and its role in facilitating economic development across Africa, six subsidiaries (companies) of Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have been named ‘Bank of the Year 2020’ by the Banker Magazine, leading global finance news publication published by Financial Times of London.
For the second year running, UBA’s multiple initiatives which include its investment in digital technology, adherence to world-class customer services offerings and financing critical projects have been recognized by the organizers of the world’s leading award in finance, as UBA Benin, UBA Cote D’Ivoire, UBA Chad, UBA Liberia, UBA Sierra Leone and UBA Zambia emerged best bank in their respective countries.
The 2020 edition of the awards ceremony was held virtually on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, and the exceptional win makes it the second time ever in the history of the banker awards, that any banking group will be clinching as many as six wins in the same year. They made history with the same number of awards in the 2019 edition of the Banker’s awards.
John Everington, Middle East and Africa Editor for The Banker, explained that a rigorous and highly analytical process is made to reach each Bank of the Year decision and the institution’s reputation for independence, authority and integrity is applied to each submission.
“More banks applied for the Bank of the Year Awards than any other similar process and our access to data on each bank and our focus on transformation, inclusion and diversity in the industry is well known. Winning Bank of the Year; this year more than any other, is an opportunity for your Bank to position itself as playing a key role in what the future holds and building towards a recovery in economies in 120 countries worldwide,” he added.
UBA Africa, Africa, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Oliver Alawuba, expressed delight over the recognition from The Banker, and stated, “The recognitions came as a reassurance that we are on track in consolidating our leadership position in Africa, as we continue to create superior value for all our stakeholders.”
According to him, following the multiple awards won by UBA Group and five of their subsidiaries in 2019, this year’s award is another testament of their hard work and increasing effort by the UBA Group to impact the African continent positively.
He added, “This award comes at a very auspicious time due to the Covid-19 global pandemic but the UBA Group has been able to stand strong and resilient in its mandate of delivering excellent financial services to over 21 million customers, across 23 countries of operations.”
Alawuba however dedicated the awards to the over 20,000 staff of the bank, emphasizing, “We believe that this award will spur us on in our renewed commitment to exceed customers’ expectation, always.”
Since1926, the Bank of the Year awards has been celebrating the best of global banking and is regarded as the industry standard for banking excellence and the 2020 edition highlights those institutions that have outshone their peers in terms of performance, strategic initiatives and response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Banker Magazine is a publication of the Financial Times – a leading global finance news publication which has been in existence since 1888. The Banker Magazine is the definitive reference in international banking for high level decision makers.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-one million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points, in 20 African countries. With presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France, 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.