Bawuah becomes first female UBA CEO
By Olayemi Katola
The United Bank for Africa Plc board of Directors has appointed Mrs. Abiola Bawuah as new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UBA Africa.
Bawuah will also join the group board as executive director, who will be overseeing the groups operations across the Africa continent beyond Nigeria in addition with global operations in New York, London, UAE, and Paris.
Bawuah, a Ghanaian national, is the first female CEO of UBA Africa.
Her appointment further demonstrates UBA’s commitment to diversity.
The UBA Group Board now includes eight female Directors. Prior to her appointment, Bawuah was 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 held the role of CEO, UBA Ghana.
Speaking on the new appointment, the Group Board Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu said: “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.”
In addition to the executive appointments, UBA has also announced the retirement of High Chief 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.
The Group Chairman Mr Elumelu expressed his appreciation to High Chief Oni for his commitment, leadership and extensive contributions to the UBA Group and on behalf of the Board and wished him the very best in all his future endeavours.
Operating in twenty African countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, United Bank for Africa provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.
UBA is 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.
The UBA Group also announced the following executive roles:
Chris Ofikulu becomes the Regional CEO, UBA West Africa. Ofikulu has over two decades of banking experience spanning corporate, commercial, and retail banking.
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, Business Development – UBA Côte d’Ivoire and has over 23 years’ banking experience.
Ayokunle Olajubu will be the Managing Director/CEO 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.
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.k
Usman Isiaka, currently CEO, UBA Sierra Leone, will be the Deputy CEO of UBA America, subject to local regulatory approvals.
Adeyemi Adeleke, the former CEO of UBA, UK is now the Group Treasurer. Adeleke will be working to unlock the immense value in the Group’s multi-jurisdictional balance sheet, leveraging its presence in 24 countries within and beyond Africa.
