Alawuba: Intra-African Trade Important for Economic Development Across the Continent

In this interview on the sidelines at the just-concluded World Bank/IMF meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, the Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Oliver Alawuba spoke about the meetings he had with development partners, the importance of Intra-Africa trade and topical issues that would bring about inclusive growth in the African continent.  Nume Ekeghe presents the excepts  

You have been in Marrakech for some days now, what are your thoughts about the IMF and World Bank meetings so far?

First of all, I would like to appreciate the people and government of Morocco for the excellent hosting of the IMF/ World Bank meeting. The feedback I have been getting from a number of people is that it is one of the best meetings in recent times. And that it is happening on African soil is something we are proud of.

UBA is a global bank, can you to speak about your operations in the continent, and also can you speak on your recently released financial statements?

UBA is a bank focused on African development. My presence here for this conference has been inspired by all the developments happening in Africa. I have held fruitful meetings with development partners who share the agenda for Africa’s development. I have also had meetings with some of our customers who also share the same development agenda for Africa. And I believe that this is our time, this is the time for UBA, to work with other development partners and corporate organisations across Africa to develop the resources and opportunities that are available in the Africa. We are today present in 20 African countries and four other countries outside Africa. We believe that Africa has tremendous opportunities and we need to have partners, institutions that will be able to harness these opportunities for the people. So, UBA is well-positioned to facilitate business within Africa and the rest of the world. That is why we are here in this conference.

Prior to your role as UBA GMD, you were CEO of UBA Africa. Can you tell us about possible trends on banking and economy in Africa?

The most important thing today is for Africa to drive financial inclusion. We still have a lot of Africans that are left out of the banking industry and that is where UBA comes in. UBA is in the forefront of using digital technology to drive financial inclusion. And we think that we need to build strong African institutions that will be able to support infrastructure development, support SMEs and the development of our continents.  And that is why UBA is here; we would work with several development partners who share the same vision, the vision that Africa needs to move and improve development in the continent. And this development has to be done by Africans working with like minds who believe that Africa must move forward.

You talked about partnership with development partners, and some of the things that have been discussed here at the meeting are growth for Africa, sustainable financing, and climate change. Are we expecting agreements between UBA and other development partners?

I can tell you that a lot of agreements will come out of this meeting. But you are also aware that UBA has put forward $6 billion for SME financing, working with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Today, we had a very fruitful discussion with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and AFREXIM Bank.  We have also had useful discussions with the African Development Bank (AFDB). We are looking at how to partner to move Africa forward particularly as it concerns SMEs and women empowerment. We believe that African women can be more empowered to do more for African development and UBA is at the forefront of these initiatives.

Do you have any plans for the expansion of your international operations?

We will continue to expand UBA’s presence in Africa. Today, we are consolidating; we think that within the countries where we are present, we can do more to increase our share of business. We also think that if the opportunity comes for other African expansions why not, we will take that opportunity. After all, UBA is for Africa

UBA is presently Nigeria’s most profitable bank, how do you sustain the excellent performances and what has contributed majorly to the phenomenal performance?

UBA’s performance in the 2022 financial year was impressive. The half 2023 from what we can see further recorded tremendous improvement. We think that our expanded presence in Africa and four other countries is beginning to yield fruits. This justifies the need to go beyond Nigeria, Africa and to the rest of the world to identify more opportunities for us in Africa and the rest of the world.

A topical discussion at these meetings is that banks and banking regulators should be concerned as interest rates go up, there is a possibility of loan default. Is that a concern for you?

Banking is a highly regulated business and are happy with the good role our regulators are playing across various markets. We will continue to work within those regulations but we should not focus so much on the risks that we forget the opportunities. We have to strike a balance and manage the risks and we also have to develop the opportunities that we have within.

Looking ahead, what message do you have for shareholders?

We love our shareholders. I am sure that would be smiling for a while now and I want to tell them that we are here to ensure that at the end of the day, they would have more dividends. So, it is cheery news from UBA and there will be a lot more for them.

This World Bank/IMF meeting is in Africa and there has been a lot of talks around improving intra-Africa trade, how positioned is UBA once AfCTA becomes fully operational?

Intra-African trade is actually our key area of strength. Our presence in 20 African countries is mainly to drive intra-African trade. Our partnership with AfCFTA is also to drive inter-African trade. Today, you are aware that AFREXIM Bank has a Pan-African Payment & Settlement System (PAPSS), a payment system for settlement of business transactions across Africa and UBA is at the forefront of that partnership. So, intra-African trade is important and Africa needs to trade more with each other and that will further improve our economic development across the continent.

QUOTES

“My presence here for this conference has been inspired by all the developments happening in Africa. I have held fruitful meetings with development partners who share the agenda for Africa’s development. I have also had meetings with some of our customers who also share the same development agenda for Africa. And I believe that this is our time, this is the time for UBA, to work with other development partners and corporate organisations across Africa to develop the resources and opportunities that are available in the Africa. We are today present in 20 African countries and four other countries outside Africa.”

“The most important thing today is for Africa to drive financial inclusion. We still have a lot of Africans that are left out of the banking industry and that is where UBA comes in. UBA is in the forefront of using digital technology to drive financial inclusion. And we think that we need to build strong African institutions that will be able to support infrastructure development, support SMEs and the development of our continents.  And that is why UBA is here; we would work with several development partners who share the same vision, the vision that Africa needs to move and improve development in the continent.”