The board of directors of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has named Mrs. Abiola Bawuah as the chief executive officer (CEO) of UBA Africa.
The Ghanaian-born banker is the first female Africa CEO of the bank.
The bank said in a statement that Bawuah will also join the group board as an executive director, overseeing the group’s operations across the African continent, outside Nigeria.
It further stated that her appointment is a demonstration of UBA’s commitment to diversity, with the group’s board now having eight female directors.
Prior to her appointment, Bawuah was the regional CEO, 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 served as CEO, UBA Ghana.
Commenting on the appointment, the group board chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu said Bawuah had 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,” he added.
The group also announced the appointment of Mr. Chris Ofikulu as the regional CEO, UBA West Africa.
Ofikulu has over two decades of banking experience spanning corporate, commercial, and retail banking.
Uzoechina Molokwu was also named as the deputy managing director of UBA Ghana, subject to local regulatory approvals.
Molokwu who was previously the executive director, business development, UBA Côte d’Ivoire, has over 23 years banking experience.
Mr. Ayokunle Olajubu was also announced as the MD/CEO of UBA Liberia, subject to local regulatory approvals.
He currently drives compliance across Africa subsidiaries and comes with 30 years banking experience in Nigeria and other African countries including Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire and the Gambia.
Ms Theresa Henshaw was also appointed as CEO of the UK branch, subject to local regulatory approvals.
Prior to the appointment, she held the position of deputy managing director, business development at UBA America.
The current CEO, UBA Sierra Leone, Mr. Usman Isiaka, was named as the deputy CEO, UBA America, subject to local regulatory approvals while Mr. Adeyemi Adeleke, the former CEO of UBA, UK was appointed he group treasurer.
In addition to the executive appointments, 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.
UBA operates in 20 African countries and in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, providing commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.
The bank is reputed to be one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group wide and serving over 37 million customers globally
