Oliver Alawuba has been appointed as new Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. He is to oversee the bank’s operations across 20 African countries, except Nigeria.

His appointment which takes immediate effect was announced recently by the bank. He replaces Victor Osadolor, who retired from the group’s board after nine years meritorious service to the bank.

Relatedly, the bank disclosed it had employed 4,000 new employees and promoted over 5,000 others with increased salaries.

The bank said in a statement that the beneficiaries would receive up to 170 per cent increase in their salaries and benefits, adding that the developments would take effect from this month.

UBA Africa serves over 19 million customers across the African continent, providing retail, commercial and institutional banking services.

According to the statement, “Alawuba has close to three decades of banking industry experience. He was once the chief executive officer of UBA Ghana and rose to become regional CEO, UBA Africa before returning to Nigeria to run UBA’s East Bank.

“Under his leadership, UBA’s Nigerian East Bank division became the fastest growing regional bank in the group.”

The board also appointed a Senegalese national, Abdoul-Aziz Dia, as executive director for treasury and international banking, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The statement added: “Dia becomes the first non-Nigerian group executive director of the bank, bringing a wealth of multi- geographical experience to the group.

“ Dia will be responsible for UBA’s global network of operations in New York, London and Paris, together with Group Treasury where UBA offers a sophisticated suite of products to multinationals, international institutions and African clients.”

Again, Chukwuma Nweke, currently the executive director of operations, was confirmed by the board as the group executive director, retail and payments, demonstrating its commitment to its retail offering.

The board also appointed Chiugo Ndubisi as group executive director and the group chief operating officer, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

It was stated that Ndubisi was a professional with almost three decades of banking experience that included the role of chief finance officer and executive director on the board of a financial institution.

“His in-depth understanding of banking and finance industry dynamics will bring a lot of value to the Group Board of UBA,” it stated.

Speaking on the appointments, Group Chairman Tony Elumelu, said: “These appointments emphasise the group’s commitment to our pan-African and global network, our huge retail client base and our operational infrastructure.

“We are focused on improving our efficiency and further strengthening our pan-African mission, using the extraordinary pool of talent and experience available in the Group.”

On his own part, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Kennedy Uzoka, said the company became highest employer of labour among Nigerian banks with a staff strength which had peaked close to 20,000.

In his word: “The bank crashed its grade levels to 12 levels, from entry level to the top of the pyramid were previously it had been 16 levels. This means that staff will now find it much easier to attain top leadership management positions at UBA as their careers progress much faster.

“In a massive recruitment drive, over 4,000 new staff members resumed in the last week of December 2019 in Nigeria alone at the bank. UBA currently stands as the highest employer of labour among Nigerian banks with staff strength of close to 20,000.”

Uzoka said the bank was continually seeking new ways to improve the fortunes of its staff as they were the backbone of the organisation.