UBA
Nigerian banks raise the bar

	Clyde Mascoll, Minister of Finance

Nigeria’s heavyweights have moved in to Ghana’s banking sector, and all share the same belief that this is the market to launch regional expansion from. One such bank is United Bank of Africa (UBA), Nigeria’s largest bank by assets with $11 billion in 2006, West Africa’s largest by branch network and the first Nigerian bank to open in Ghana.

“Ghana is of strategic importance to UBA. This is our first African location outside Nigeria and from here a whole lot of things are beginning to happen. We are using Ghana as our regional hub for the whole of Anglophone West Africa,” states Nnamdi Okonkwo, CEO of UBA Ghana.

Mr Okonkwo adds that political stability was a huge draw, as were the government’s favourable economic policies. “This is why we came here and we have seen it for ourselves. From the private sector perspective I can tell you that if I had a location for business in West Africa, Ghana would top the list and that is why UBA chose Ghana as our first outpost.” he remarks. UBA Ghana has employed a similar approach to its successful Nigerian strategy – lots of branches aimed at reaching the blue collar worker. The bank pioneered the zero deposit account, which is especially important for a country where an estimated 70% of the economy is informal. Moreover, UBA Ghana’s innovative firsts are shaking up the banking scene as well as widening its reach – a government priority.