Banking on a Pan-African Vision

Time flies. No, I am not talking about the fact that the United Bank for Africa (UBA) is celebrating its 75th anniversary. As a financial institution that was set up during colonial rule, it has every reason to roll out the drums and pop champagne, of course. That is three quarters of a century. Not bad at all for a bank that started in a shop, as it were, on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, and now operates in 24 countries worldwide, serving around 40 million customers. They deserve their flowers. In an economy where legacies are hard to come by, where businesses tend to die along with their founders, it is rare to find a trans-generational brand. It is often a case of here today, gone tomorrow.

Three decades ago, I used to enjoy the song in the bank’s TV commercial: “Wise men bank with UBA/And women too with UBA/Open a savings account today/At UBA, UBA” (hope I got the lyrics right). That was an early gender-sensitive commercial at a time gender equity was not a thing. But what am I even saying? UBA can claim to have a gender-friendly history. Mrs Bola Kuforiji-Olubi, a UK-trained economist, was appointed chair of the bank in 1984 — the first woman to hold an office of that height in sub Saharan Africa. That was an era when women were hardly at the top of any sector, private or public. It was an unwritten rule that top positions were strictly reserved for men.

Nigerian women were glad that the country had had its first female federal permanent secretary (Mrs Francesca Yetunde Emanuel, 1975) and its first elected female senator (Ms Franca Afegbua, 1983) but the men never hid the fact that they considered women to be backbenchers in politics and business. It was only in entertainment and sports that they enjoyed some prominence in those days. Things have changed significantly today, thanks to amazons like Kuforiji-Olubi who blazed the trail in the private sector as a woman of firsts and an inspiration to Nigerian women. Mrs Eniola Fadayomi, former attorney-general of Lagos, would later expand the rank by chairing the board of Afribank.

Kuforiji-Olubi was the first female president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the first woman to be CEO of a multinational company in Nigeria when she headed VYB Industries Ltd, which had UK affiliates. She was the first female chair of a quoted company in Nigeria, Bewac Plc. But being chair of a bank as big as UBA from 1984 to 1990 was a monumental feather in her cap. The year she was appointed UBA chair, the bank began its operations in New York City, US. Kuforiji-Olubi died in December 2016 at 80. Significantly, she was older than UBA, having been born in 1936 — a whole 13 years before it was founded as the French & British Bank Ltd (B&FB).

B&FB metamorphosed into “United Bank for Africa” in 1961 with the end of colonial rule and its incorporation as a limited liability company under Nigerian laws. It has gone through several eras — notably from the time it was privatised by the military government of Gen Sani Abacha in 1998, when Mr Keem Belo-Osagie became its chairman, to its merger with Standard Trust Bank (STB) in 2005. STB, under the leadership of Mr. Tony Elumelu as MD, was a much younger bank, having been established only in 1997. STB, it has to be said, was not the darling of old-generation bankers. They considered the Young Turks in the banking hall as “too smart” and “too fast” for their liking.

The merger effectively launched Elumelu into the top tier of the financial sector. It was a no-brainer that the STB identity would be subsumed — UBA was the much bigger fish, one of the biggest in the Nigerian banking sector and even in Africa. But it was a case of new wine in old bottle: UBA was culturally different from STB. One was conservative and the other was radical. UBA appealed to the older generation in the category of First Bank and Union Bank, while STB was on a fast lane like the new class of GTB and Zenith Bank. How Elumelu reconciled the two contrasting cultures of the old UBA and STB to build the new UBA is worth an academic inquest. I assume it was a rough ride.

The born-again UBA kept expanding — there was clearly an aggressive mission to dominate the landscape. Inevitably, Elumelu became one of the most powerful bankers in Nigeria. Since the banking consolidation exercise of 2005, UBA has been getting bigger. It has grown to become one of the most visible Nigerian banks outside our shores. In fact, UBA prides itself as the only Sub-Saharan African bank “with a truly global presence” — operating in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America — and calls itself “Africa’s truly global bank”. At 75, UBA is the fourth oldest bank in the country after First Bank Plc (established in 1894), Union Bank Plc (1917) and Wema Bank Plc (1945).

The bank has been highlighting and celebrating its landmarks: its bragging rights date back to 1961 when it became the first among international banks to be registered under Nigerian laws; the first Nigerian-headquartered bank to offer an IPO following its listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE, now NGX) in 1970; the first Nigerian bank to issue a global depositary receipt (GDR) — a financial instrument that allows investors to buy shares of a foreign company on a local stock exchange; the first Nigeria-headquartered bank to hit N1 trillion in balance sheet size, contingents inclusive; the first to launch cash deposit ATMs in Nigeria; and among many other firsts and feats.

Mr Oliver Alawuba, the UBA GMD, recently spoke about his bank’s thirst for innovation-drive customer satisfaction, pointing out that it was the first to launch mobile banking in Africa. The bank has also been leveraging artificial intelligence; its AI-powered virtual assistant, Leo, enables transactions via social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, and allows customers to interact with the bank round-the-clock. This was also a first. The bank has been particularly big on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and has signed a $6 billion funding agreement with the African Continental Free Trade secretariat to make finance more accessible to them across Africa.

But, as I pointed out when the bank clocked 70, we cannot talk about building strong Nigerian brands without talking about building an enduring structure. Many Nigerian companies begin to decompose as soon as the founders die. That is why it is a rarity to see Nigerian-established companies celebrating 75 years of doing business. Many would say UBA’s European roots may have largely contributed to its durability. That is debatable. But when you realise that many home-grown banks have gone under in the last 40 years, some in their infancy, we should not have to debate the fact that African entrepreneurs need to do more about building legacies that will outlive their founders.

As I also pointed out, I grew up being told the fascinating stories of legendary businessmen such as Alhaji Alhassan Dantata (great grandfather of Alhaji Aliko Dangote), who is believed to be the first Nigerian millionaire, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Odutola brothers, and several others. What about Bashorun MKO Abiola? You have to wonder what happened to their businesses after they left the scene. Many of today’s pervasive global brands were built to outlive their founders. Some of them, such as Cadbury, Barclays Bank and Quaker Oats, are over a hundred years old and you are sure they would be around for much longer. What are they getting right, what are we getting wrong?

I’ve always been jealous of South African brands. They are stamping their feet all over Africa. Shoprite had planted its footprints in almost every Nigerian state before it was acquired by a Nigerian company. I am silently hoping it will endure. MTN is Africa’s king of telecoms. DStv, owned by Multichoice, sits atop the cable TV market in Africa. The late Dr Raymond Dokpesi set out to rival DStv, but his Daarsat pay TV did not break through. Many moons ago, HiTV attempted to take the Nigerian pay TV market from DStv using the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League, but it didn’t end well. Ethiopian Airlines and Ethiopian coffee are winners on the global stage.

Time flies. I almost forgot why I said that. Exactly 19 years ago, I used my first Nigeria-issued dollar-denominated card outside the country. It was a Mastercard, issued by UBA. I am too shy to admit here that I was as excited as a kid when I faced the wall, inserted my card, punched a few buttons and the machine spat out multiple notes in pound sterling. It was at the University of Sussex in the UK. Until then, you always had to travel with raw cash or use a foreign bank’s card. So, in a sense, I have benefited from UBA’s innovative approach to customer satisfaction. It is, thus, only in order for me to wish them a happy 75th anniversary. Here is to the next 75 years. Time flies, doesn’t it?

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

NIGERIA AT 64

The Federal Republic of Nigeria will mark its 64th independence anniversary on Tuesday, predictably on a “low key” as we are used to hearing from government officials for many years now. We are usually told it is a day for “sober reflections”. I wouldn’t mind if indeed government officials lived “low key” lives and ruled the country with “sober reflections”. But our reality has been a gross and mindless mismanagement of our resources, worsened by the political manipulation of our ethnic and religious emotions by the ruling elite to keep us from focusing on the real trouble with Nigeria: bad governance. We desperately need to gain independence from the buccaneering elite. Reflections.

POLLS AND PEACE

The Edo state governorship election went fairly well — at least by Nigerian standards. My heart is always in my mouth at election times because of the possibility of destruction and death. Although Senator Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the APC, was declared winner by INEC, PDP’s Asue Ighodalo is preparing evidence to head to the tribunal, insisting that some of the declared results are different from what is on official record. I really love this. Whether or not there is rigging, I always prefer peaceful pursuit of justice to carnage. No politician is worth dying for. Life will go on after lives have been wasted, believe me. Let’s see what Ighodalo has got in stock for the tribunal. Process.

RUTHLESS OR ROOTLESS?

Ms Ruth Ogunleye, a soldier who alleged that she was sexually harassed and raped by a senior army officer, has been discharged (read: dismissed) by the Nigerian Army. The army authorities described her as a psychiatric case. Ogunleye is, however, having none of that. She has gone on air to repeat the allegations and even challenged the army authorities to release the full report of their investigation. She insists she does not have any mental health issue. Who should we believe? I commend the army for investigating the allegations, but I suggest that, in light of her insistence that justice was miscarried, an independent body should look into the root of her claims again. Important.

NO COMMENT

The bill to establish the South West Development Commission, which looked like a joke when it was first mooted by Senator Ibikunle Amosun in March 2020, has been passed by the senate. We will end up having “development” commissions for the Niger Delta (south-south), south-east, south-west, north-east, north-central and north-east. I guess the next move will be for the federal government to establish development commissions for every state of the federation. We know the drill: there will be plenty commissions and little development — but since these things are done basically for political patronage, there will be plenty slush funds. Nigerian politicians know what they are doing. Pathetic.