Business
Commitment to Customer Service Translates to Financial Gains – UBA GMD
Commitment to Customer Service Translates to Financial Gains – UBA GMD
Sahara WeeklyReports That The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, has said that the bank recorded significant improvement in its operational and financial performance as a result of its unending commitment towards delivering products and services aimed at meeting customers’ demands.
Uzoka said this during the Investors/Analysts Conference Call at the bank’s head office in Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday, September 16, 2021, following the release of its results for the half-year ended June 30, 2021.
UBA delivered a 33.4% appreciation in its profit before tax which rose to N76.2bn as of June 2021, up from N57.1bn recorded in the same period of 2020, translating to an annualized Return on Average Equity of 17.5% as against 14.4% a year earlier. Profit after tax grew to N60.6bn representing a significant rise by 36.3% compared to N44.4bn recorded in 2020, while gross earnings grew to N316bn from N300.6bn as of June 2020; a 5.1% growth
This feat was recorded despite the challenging business and economic environment that emerged from the slow pace of activities following the global lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The GMD expressed optimism that the bank is on the trajectory of achieving and even surpassing its targets for the financial year, adding that its focus on delighting its customers remains at the forefront of all its activities.
He said, “We are very committed to the prudent and responsible growth of our risk assets, quality of our balance sheet, and the overall health of the bank. We will continue to balance our growth appetite with the need to maintain a very good healthy portfolio of our assets.
“Our customer-first philosophy remains our guiding strategy. We want to assure you of a positive customer experience for all our customers. In addition, we would like to deliver our banking services only from the standpoint of our customers. And indeed, as we say at UBA, our customers are our ultimate employers,” Uzoka explained.
Whilst expressing optimism that the Nigerian economy and the broader economy will continue to recover and rebound from the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the remaining quarter of 2021 and into 2022, the GMD assured the investors and participants of the bank’s commitment to maintain professionalism and continue to ensure strict compliance with the rules and regulations guiding our operations in all our presence countries. “With the trusted commitment of all our great and wonderful employees, board and management, we will continue to match towards actualizing twenty-five touchpoints twenty enterprise goals,” he noted.
UBA’s Chief Financial Officer, Ugo Nwaghodoh, who spoke on the bank’s significant geographical diversification across key economies in Africa and beyond, noted that UBA recorded impressive growth in interest incomes and net incomes, with steady growth in funding and deposits from customers.
He pointed out that even as the operating environment remains largely uncertain and volatile, despite marked improvement from Covid-19 induced macroeconomic stress, UBA will continue to build resilience through its geographically diversified business model to support headline earnings growth for the Group.
“We remain committed to our 18% and 15% respective RoAE and deposit growth guidance for FY 2021, as we continue to invest in growth opportunities across our geographies of operation, whilst managing capital and balance sheet prudently,” Nwaghodoh said.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-five million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touchpoints, in 20 African countries. With a presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services.,
…Dangote, an Entrepreneurial Genius, Providing Innovative Solutions’
The President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has urged young entrepreneurs and scholars to rise above limitations and push their ambitions to help transform the world into a better place.
The prominent industrialist made this call on Wednesday when a delegation of Harvard Kennedy School scholars visited the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals complex and Dangote Fertiliser Limited in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.
Addressing the 50 scholars, representing 18 different nationalities from across the globe, Dangote emphasised the importance of being driven by ambition and a ‘can-do’ spirit, as exemplified by the Dangote Group in constructing the world’s largest single-train refinery.
He stressed that ambition should be paired with a desire to create a legacy and make an impact, not simply for profit.
“Life is not worth living without ambition. In this life, nothing is impossible. Don’t allow fear to hold you back. Be knowledgeable about the business you want to pursue. I am not an engineer, but I don’t engage in any business I don’t understand,” he said.
Dangote, who spent over 40 minutes answering questions from the scholars, recalled being advised against building the refinery, as many argued that such mega projects were only feasible for sovereign nations, not individuals. He shared that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company had to find ways to sustain the project. He also noted that the ingenuity involved in constructing a world-class refinery, which meets global best practices, produces Euro V products, and is capable of processing over 100 different types of crude oil, has kept it running despite shortage of Nigerian crude oil.
Vice President, Oil & Gas, Dangote Group, Edwin Devakumar, explained that building the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery was a monumental feat that required immense courage, vision, and determination. He pointed out that the group acted as its own Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor for the project – a refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day – a feat that had never been attempted before.
“Our Group President has a plaque in his office that reads, ‘nothing is impossible.’ This is the mindset he instilled in us when faced with challenges. He does not accept impossibilities and always aims for excellence. This approach was the same when we revolutionised the cement industry in Nigeria. We turned the country from one of the largest importers of cement into a net exporter. Today, after decades of depending on imported refined products, we now have the capacity to meet all of Nigeria’s refined product demands, with surplus supplies of jet A1, gasoline, and diesel for export. Other products from the refinery include polypropylene, carbon black feedstock, and sulphur,” he said.
Devakumar highlighted the significant investments made to realise the project, including dredging 65 million cubic metres of sand to raise the height of the site by 1.5 metres to safeguard against potential sea level rises due to global warming. The group also procured 330 cranes and lifting equipment due to the lack of local capacity, built the world’s largest granite quarry to supply materials such as coarse aggregates, stone columns, and stone dust, and constructed the refinery on 250,000 piles – potentially the largest number ever used for a single project.
The scholars, who toured the magnificent complexes, were in awe and praised Dangote for his ambitious vision, which seeks to address global needs. They commended him as an inspiration and entrepreneurial genius, with many describing the visit to the refinery as the highlight of their tour, which also included stops in Ghana and Abuja.
Sheffy Kolade, leader of the Harvard Kennedy School student-led Nigeria-Ghana Trek and a global advisor for the Women for Prosperity project with the Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Center, said that the Dangote Group symbolises Nigeria’s resilience and economic transformation.
“I want to start by saying that the Dangote Group is not just a business. It is a symbol of Nigeria’s resilience. It is a symbol of the bright future that lies ahead for us. It represents the extraordinary achievements possible when we put our minds to something. I am happy that we are here to witness the economic progress happening in Nigeria. We’ve seen the largest single-train refinery in the world, and we’ve visited a fertiliser plant that exports to South America and the US,” she said.
A social entrepreneur and a member of the Forbes Business Council, Kolade added, “From where we are standing, thousands of people earn their daily livelihood. This business has created numerous jobs and energy security for our country. It has reduced our reliance on imported petroleum products, and, of course, it is increasing our foreign reserves. I want to thank you, sir, for everything you’re doing for our country and for Africa. We appreciate it. It’s truly inspiring for us.”
Speaking about her team and their mission at the refinery, Kolade noted, “My team consists of 50 people from 18 different nationalities. We have people from nearly every continent. We are a blend of policy, business, sustainability, and development-minded individuals, most of whom are from the Harvard Kennedy School. There’s one from the Harvard Business School, one from Harvard Public Health, and others pursuing joint degrees with Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. We are all curious-minded people who value impact, sustainability, and progress.”
Another member of the team, Darrow Merton, a Foreign Service Officer with the United States, described Dangote’s vision and resilience as an inspiration to entrepreneurs. He praised Dangote for not only breaking barriers to build the refinery but also for his ability to provide innovative solutions in the face of adversity.
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