Abiola Bawuah Emerges First Female UBA Africa CEO

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A Ghanaian national, Mrs Abiola Bawuah, has been appointed as the first female chief executive for UBA Africa, a statement from the financial institution has said.

With her appointment, she joins the group board as an executive director, overseeing the organisation’s operations across the African continent, outside Nigeria.

According to the disclosure from the lender, the appointment of Mrs Buwuah demonstrates its commitment to diversity, bringing the total number of female directors in the UBA Group Board to eight.

Prior to her appointment, Mrs Bawuah was Regional CEO of West Africa, supervising the group’s operations in nine subsidiaries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. She previously held the role of the CEO of UBA Ghana.

“Abiola has contributed significantly to the growth of UBA Africa for close to a decade. She brings a wealth of experience in commercial banking and stakeholder engagement.

“It also gives me great pleasure that with her appointment, the UBA Group Board has now become a majority female board,” the Group Board Chairman of UBA Plc, Mr Tony Elumelu, said.

Also, UBA Group has appointed Mr Chris Ofikulu as the Regional CEO of UBA West Africa. The appointee has over two decades of banking experience spanning corporate, commercial, and retail banking.

In addition, Mr Uzoechina Molokwu will take on the role of Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of UBA Ghana, subject to local regulatory approvals. He was previously the Executive Director for Business Development at UBA Côte d’Ivoire and has over 23 years of banking experience.

Further, Mr Ayokunle Olajubu has been asked to take charge of UBA Liberia, subject to local regulatory approvals. He currently drives compliance across African subsidiaries and comes with 30 years of banking experience in Nigeria and other African countries, including Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire and the Gambia.

In the statement, UBA disclosed that Ms Theresa Henshaw has been appointed as CEO of UBA UK, subject to local regulatory approvals. She was previously the DMD, Business Development, UBA America and joined the Group as ED, Business Development at UBA UK.

Similarly, Mr Usman Isiaka, currently the CEO of UBA Sierra Leone, will be the Deputy CEO of UBA America, subject to local regulatory approvals, while Mr Adeyemi Adeleke, the former CEO of UBA UK, is now the Group Treasurer. He will be working to unlock the immense value in the Group’s multi-jurisdictional balance sheet, leveraging on its presence in 24 countries within and beyond Africa.

Meanwhile, UBA has announced the retirement of Mr Samuel Oni, an independent non-executive Director, from the board following the expiration of his tenure.

He joined the UBA Group in January 2015 and served on the board of the group for eight years.

In the statement, Mr Elumelu thanked him for his commitment, leadership and extensive contributions to the UBA Group, wishing him the best in all his future endeavours.

UBA operates in 19 African countries beyond Nigeria, in addition to global operations in New York, London, Paris and the UAE. The company provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting-edge technology.