UBA again spreads it tentacles beyond Nigeria, opens Dubai branch

L-R: United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group Head, Commercial and Corporate Banking, Mr. Muyiwa Akinyemi; Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking, Mr. Ndubisi Chiugo; Chief Executive Officer, Dubai International Financial Centre(DIFC)  Authority, Mr Arif Amiri; Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa(UBA), Mr. Tony O. Elumelu; Governor , Dubai International Financial Centre(DIFC), His Excellency Essa Kazim; Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Group, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; and Managing Director, UBA(DIFC Branch), Mr. Vikrant Bhansali at the unveiling of UBA branch in Dubai on Thursday.

By allcitynews.ng

In its fresh attempt to enlarge its coast,
reach more customers outside the shore of Nigeria and be a bridge to the world economy, the leadership of United Bank for African (UBA) has opened a branch office in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The bank said the opening of its Dubai branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is in line with its vision of global outlook and competence, African by heart and knowledge; and a bridge to the world economy.

Just as the bank explained that another reason for the opening of the Dubai branch is that over the years, the Gulf, especially the UAE, has become an important hub for global trade and also a trade gateway for Africa.

“@UBADubai will serve our customers across the Middle East with a core focus on correspondent banking, trade and treasury, whilst harnessing the opportunities the region has to offer to unlock our untapped economic potential and support our continent’s development,” it said.

The founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation and Group Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, who made this known during the opening ceremony said that Dubai’s strategic position as a thriving global trade hub at the intersection of Asia, Europe and Africa makes it an ideal market.

“Today, I am in Dubai to mark yet another historical milestone for @UBAGroup. What started as an ambitious dream is today a reality. UBA has expanded its operations beyond Africa, the United States, and Europe to the United Arab Emirates; truly Africa’s Global Bank.”

Additionally, when the bank got the licence for its operations in Dubai, the Group Chairman Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu reminded customers of the stages the bank went through before getting to its current stage, saying, UBA has grown from when he led some young bankers to take over distressed Crystal Bank transforming it to Standard Trust Bank and later acquiring UBA.

“We are the only African bank that has deposit taking licence in all of USA, we have today UBA UK, we have UBA Paris and we just got license for UBA, in Dubai”.

He said the team that transformed Standard Trust Bank to UBA today wanted to make a statement that “out of Africa, out of Nigeria you can do businesses successfully, and can do business in various environments anywhere in the world, today that experiment or dream has come to life”.