Kennedy Uzoka monday resumed as the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.
He took the mantle of leadership from Phillips Oduoza, who retired as Group Managing Director and CEO on July 31, 2016 after completing two terms of three years each.
Until his resumption as the new GMD/CEO of UBA, Uzoka was the Deputy Managing Deputy of UBA, a position he held in the last six years, working closely with the former GMD/CEO.
His appointment as the new GMD is seen as a testimony to the strength of the bank’s succession planning process.
“Kennedy Uzoka’s appointment has once again proven the resilience of our succession planning process and the value we place on having in place a strong corporate governance system,” said Tony Elumelu, Chairman, UBA.
Uzoka comes well prepared for his new position. He has been leading the transformation agenda of the Bank, since returning from Harvard Business School.
Uzoka has over two and half decades of experience in commercial banking, strategy and business transformation.
Prior to his sabbatical at Harvard, Uzoka served as Deputy Managing Director, UBA Group and was also the CEO of UBA Africa, responsible for the group’s operations in 18 countries across Africa.
A multiple award winner, Uzoka, has also supervised other key areas in the bank including e-banking and information technology in its New York and London offices in addition to strategic support groups such as human resources, legal advisory services, procurement and vendor management, corporate relations and marketing, among others.
As a well-rounded banker, Uzoka has had direct and oversight supervision of critical business functions like Group Treasury and International Financial Institutions and Transaction Banking, Pensions Custodian, Consumer Banking and Cash Management.
He was at various times Head, Strategy and Business Transformation; Regional Bank Head, South Bank covering 17 states in Southern part of Nigeria; Regional-Director South-east, Vice President Northern Nigeria, Chief Marketing Officer, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Marketing Officer, Lagos, and Managing Executive Officer respectively.
“Uzoka brings an extremely strong skill set and a wealth of financial services experience that will help the bank execute the next phase of its growth strategy. I have no doubt that he has the expertise and depth of business experience to ensure that the bank is best positioned to deliver on its strategic aspirations to be the most respected and trusted African financial brand globally,” Elumelu said.
Addressing staff in a video podcast on his first day as GMD/CEO, Uzoka called for support from his management staff and colleagues to grow the UBA brand which he described as strong, recognisable and trusted across Africa.
He promised to build a bank based on a strong foundation of customer service.
“We will stay close to our customers and do everything possible to serve them properly. Our customers will be the beginning, the middle and the end of our strategy,” he stated.
UBA is one of Africa’s leading banking groups with operations in 19 African countries and offices in three global financial centres: London, Paris and New York.
From a single country operation in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, UBA has evolved into a pan-African provider of banking and related financial services, to more than 11 million customers, through over 1,000 business offices and diverse channels globally.