Companies

UBA eyes African business with new Dubai branch

uba

[L-R] DIFC Authority chief executive Prince Arif Amiri, UBA Group chairman Tony O. Elumelu, DIFC Governor Essa Kazim, UBA Group CEO Kennedy Uzoka and Vikrant Bhansali, managing director of the UBA (DIFC Branch) during the official launch. PHOTO | POOL

Pan-African bank UBA Group has launched a new branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), betting on the long-term growth of trade deals between the Middle East and Africa.

The lender said the new centre will serve corporate and financial institutions and customers across the Middle East with a keen eye on correspondent banking, relationship management and advisory services.

The bank said the DFIC office will support its corporate customers in Dubai and greater Asia and act as a liaison for African companies looking to do business there as well as firms setting shop in Africa. UBA groups have operations in 20 African countries including Kenya.

The centre, which will operate under the Category Four licence regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), joins three other centres set by the bank for its global expansion drive including London, New York and Paris.

“Collaborating with our franchises in 20 African countries and the major financial centres of London, New York and Paris, UBA (DIFC Branch) will facilitate the financing of trade transactions between the Middle East and Africa, enabling trade finance and investments,” UBA Group chairman Tony Elumelu said.

A Category Four licence at the DFIC allows firms to arrange investments and financial deals as well as advance and advise on credit.

“We want to support Africans who do business in Dubai and investors here who want to do business in Africa. This new centre will support our operations in the Middle East and the Far East,” Mr Elumelu said during a gala event in Dubai to mark the launch.

UBA's move to establish a physical foothold in the market comes at a time major global corporations in the industrial, tech and construction sectors are moving to invest in Africa.

The resource-rich Africa is considered the last frontier and experts are betting on accelerated growth in the coming decades.

“UBA is seeing Dubai as the gateway for Africa and that is why we are here, to be closer to our clients, to be partnering with them and facilitate businesses and trade flow into Africa through the UBA franchise,” the Group's managing director and CEO Kennedy Uzoka said.

UBA already counts large companies operating out of Nigeria and other African countries as clients. The bank also has 35 million retail customers in its key markets.

Trade and investments in Africa have over the years been hampered by decades of civil strife, poor governance and underdevelopment in key sectors but renewed interest in the continent has seen improvement in key indicators.

“Trade, Commerce and Investments in Africa are expanding in the Gulf Region and Asia. Leveraging the presence of UBA Group in global financial centres, we will enhance the ability of the group to facilitate access of Gulf investors and banks to African markets,” UBA (DFIC) chief executive Vikrant Bhansali said.

[email protected]