Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer
of Pan African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc
has won the much coveted ‘BusinessDay’s Bank CEO’ of the year 2019
award.
Uzoka emerged tops based on his sterling achievements since he assumed
the position of Group CEO at UBA three years ago.
Kennedy Uzoka has been successful in pulling increased financial
performances and appreciation of shareholders’ investment. A techie
himself, he has ensured massive investment in the digitalisation of the
bank’s activities and processes, particularly the introduction of UBA’s
chatbot, LEO which is the first of its kind by any financial
institutions in Africa. Uzoka has also focused on the consistent
expansion of UBA’s activities and services across and beyond the
African continent.
Whilst presenting this award to the GMD, the management of BusinessDay
Newspapers was quoted as saying, “The visionary leadership of the bank
spearheaded by Uzoka has earned UBA the digital bank of the year
consistently. The launch of LEO, an artificial intelligence chatbot in
January of 2018 has witnessed UBA become the leader in artificial
intelligence. Leo is available on different platforms including
Whatsapp, Facebook and more recently on IOS, the mobile operating system
of Apple Inc.”
Following Uzoka’s appointment on August 1st, 2016, UBA’s customer
deposit has grown by 19.4% to N2.49tn away from the four per cent crunch
which had been recorded the previous year, while net loans improved from
a 3.3 per cent loss position recorded in 2015, to N1.51tn, representing
a huge incline by 45.2 per cent.
The strong growth trajectory has continued, three years after Uzoka’s
appointment, as seen by the 43 per cent growth in the bank’s
shareholding fund to N5.01tn in the three –year period, as the bank has
been enjoying excellent ratings from credible international financial
rating agencies such as Fitch and Agusto and Co.
Uzoka, who received and acknowledged the award with a keen sense of
humility and responsibility, said the bank has been focused on putting
the customer first in all its activities, adding that this has been the
focal point and driving force of the bank in the past three years. “Our
commitment to customer service excellence is translating to strong,
operational and financial efficiency,” Uzoka said.
He reiterated the bank’s commitment to continue to put customers at the
forefront of its activities, adding, “We are focused on adding value to
the customers as we strive to give them an excellent experience at all
times. We do this by having a vivid understanding of our customers and
their specific needs, and by effectively monitoring their satisfaction
through the feedback mechanism, and more importantly, making valuable
improvements from their feedback. I am pleased to see we are
increasingly becoming the bank of choice for individuals and businesses
across Africa.”
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading financial services group in
sub-Saharan Africa, with presence in 20 African countries, as well as
the United Kingdom, the United States of America and France.
From a single country operation founded in 1949 in Nigeria, Africa’s
largest economy, UBA has emerged as a pan-African provider of banking
and other financial services, to 17 million customers globally, through
one of the most diverse service channels in sub-Sahara Africa; 632
business offices, 1,750 ATMs, some 13,500 PoS, and a robust online and
mobile banking platform.