UBA Group Dominates 2025 Banker Awards, winning Africa’s Bank of the Year and nine subsidiary awards, reinforcing its Pan-African leadership
UBA Group Dominates as Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa Plc, was named Africa’s Bank of the Year 2025 by The Banker.com for the third time in five years, highlighting its innovation, resilience, and continental influence.
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The bank also claimed Best Bank awards in nine of its twenty African subsidiaries.
UBA Benin, UBA Chad, UBA Republic of Congo, UBA Liberia, UBA Mali, UBA Mozambique, UBA Senegal, UBA Sierra Leone, and UBA Zambia topped their categories, underscoring the strength of its Pan-African network across West, Central, and Southern Africa.
The Banker.com, published by the Financial Times, held the awards ceremony at the Peninsula, London.
UBA UK Chief Executive Officer, Deji Adeyelure, received the awards on behalf of Group Managing Director/CEO, Oliver Alawuba, accompanied by Head of Business Development, Mark Ifashe, and Head of Financial Institutions, Shilpam Jha.
The publication described UBA’s wins as exceptional, noting that the bank consistently outperforms larger competitors.
The recognition included ten awards in total, a significant increase from its last continental win in 2024.
UBA also recorded strong financial growth. In 2024, assets rose 46.8 per cent and pre-tax profits increased 6.1 per cent in local currency terms.
West Africa remained the bank’s core market, with revenue and profit rising 87 per cent and 89 per cent respectively in the first half of 2025.
Digital innovation was equally recognised. The bank launched the Advance Top-Up buy-now-pay-later feature on the *919# USSD platform, while its chatbot, Leo, recorded a 29 per cent increase in transactions and became the first African banking chatbot to enable cross-border payments via PAPSS.
Alawuba said the awards validate UBA’s strategy and customer-centric philosophy. “Winning Africa’s Bank of the Year for the third time in five years reflects disciplined execution, innovation, and deep market understanding,” he said. “Our nine country awards show that UBA is not just growing, but growing with impact.”
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UBA employs 25,000 staff, serves over 45 million customers, and operates in twenty African countries, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and the UAE, providing retail, commercial, and institutional banking services while driving financial inclusion and technological advancement.
