…Wins Best Bank Titles in Nine African Subsidiaries
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has once again reinforced its position as one of Africa’s leading financial institutions after emerging Africa’s Bank of the Year 2025, an honour conferred by The Banker, a leading global finance publication of the Financial Times Group.
This victory marks the third time in five years that UBA has received the prestigious continental award, underscoring the strength of its pan-African strategy, operational resilience and consistent growth across key markets.
In addition to the continental recognition, UBA also secured Best Bank of the Year awards in nine out of its twenty African subsidiaries. The winning subsidiaries include UBA Benin, Chad, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia, bringing the Group’s total honours at the 2025 awards to ten.
The awards ceremony was held in London at The Peninsula, with the Group’s UK Chief Executive Officer, Deji Adeyelure, receiving the accolades on behalf of the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba. He was joined by UBA’s Head of Business Development, Mark Ifashe, and Head of Financial Institutions, Shilpam Jha.
Organised annually, The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards are widely regarded as among the most rigorous and respected honours in global banking, recognising institutions that demonstrate excellence in financial performance, innovation, leadership and strategic execution.
Explaining its decision, The Banker noted that UBA continues to outperform larger rivals across the continent.
It highlighted the bank’s ability to secure awards across a broad geographical spread, spanning West Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa, an achievement few Africa-wide banks have matched.
The publication particularly praised UBA’s strong showing in highly competitive markets such as Benin and Mozambique, as well as the breadth of its institutional strength across regional economic blocs including ECOWAS, CEMAC and SADC.
The Banker further cited UBA’s solid financial results, noting that the Group recorded a 46.8 per cent increase in total assets in 2024, alongside a 6.1 per cent rise in pre-tax profit in local currency terms.
In West Africa, the bank’s core market, operating revenue and profit surged by 87 per cent and 89 per cent respectively in the first half of 2025.
UBA’s growing leadership in digital banking and financial innovation was also recognised. Over the review period, the bank expanded access to credit through its Advance Top-Up buy-now-pay-later service on the *919# USSD platform, while its artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, Leo, recorded a 29 per cent year-on-year growth in transaction volumes in the first half of 2025.
In a landmark development, Leo became in August the first African banking chatbot to process cross-border payments via the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), marking a major step in deepening intra-African trade and financial integration.
Reacting to the achievement, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Oliver Alawuba described the recognition as validation of UBA’s long-term vision and customer-centric philosophy.
This honour reflects the strength of our pan-African network, the confidence of our customers, and the dedication of our people. Winning Africa’s Bank of the Year for the third time in five years is a testament to disciplined execution, innovation and deep market understanding, Alawuba said.
He added that the multiple country awards demonstrate that the bank’s growth strategy is delivering tangible impact across diverse markets.
Our performance across nine African countries shows that UBA is not just expanding, but expanding responsibly, with a focus on financial inclusion, economic development and technology-driven solutions that make banking easier and more accessible for Africans everywhere,” he said.
United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in Africa’s financial sector, with a workforce of over 25,000 employees serving more than 45 million customers worldwide.
The Group operates in 20 African countries, as well as the United Kingdom, United States, France and the United Arab Emirates, offering a wide range of retail, commercial and institutional banking services.
