United Bank for Africa (UBA) came out on top by winning three outstanding awards at the 2nd edition of Nigeria Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Awards Night held at Oriental Hotel, Lagos recently.
Organised by Instinct Business Magazine, the bank’s Group Chief Finance Officer (GCFO), Mr. Ugo Nwaghodoh and the Finance Team won the CFO of the Year, Financial Innovation Project of the Year, and Finance Team of the Year awards.
Nwaghodoh defeated the other nominees in the banking category to win the CFO of the Year award.
For its exceptional performance in the year under review, the finance division of the bank went home with the Finance Team of the Year Award.
The organizers explained that such “exceptional performance” resulted in the bank emerging as one of the resilient performers in the Nigerian banking industry, despite the economic downturn.
Receiving the awards, Nwaghodoh thanked the organizers for the recognition which, according to him “is coming for the second time in a row.”
He said he could not have achieved all alone but for the best finance team in the Nigerian banking industry working with him.
The GCFO dedicated the award to his team saying they worked assiduously with passion to always exceed expectations.
“Achieving a feat like this at a challenging period only indicates that hard work and dedication truly pays. We are further encouraged by these awards but speaking the minds of my colleagues, this presents new challenges to us as we will intensify our commitment towards setting benchmarks for the industry, particularly in our strategic roles beyond financial reporting and performance management,” he said.
In his remarks, the chief executive officer of Instinct Business Magazine, Mr. Akin Naphtal said CFOs are integral to the success of organizations as their expansive financial perspectives help fuel growth.
“That is why we believe the achievements of financial executives who have been outstanding in their profession and have contributed in no small measure to the growth of their organisations and the economy at large, must be recognized and celebrated,” he said.
The event was attended by people from the public, banking, Insurance, telecoms, pharmaceutical, construction, investment banking, media, logistics and transport, sectors.
Nwaghodoh is a seasoned financial analyst and accountant with over two decades experience spanning assurance, advisory, financial control, strategy and business transformation, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, business integration and project management.
Prior to his appointment as UBA’s GCFO, he was at different times, group financial controller, group chief compliance officer as well as head, performance management in the bank.
Before joining UBA in 2004, Nwaghodoh had almost one decade experience with Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, both in Nigeria and Kenya.
He holds a BSc degree from the University of Ibadan and an MSc in Finance and Management from Cranfield University, England.
A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Institute of Credit Administration (ICA), Nwaghodoh is also an Honorary Senior Member (HCIB) of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), and a member of Cranfield Management Association.
In his capacity as GCFO, UBA has sustained robust level of growth by consistently recording significant and enviable financial performance.
