UBA Liberia Celebrates Milestone Achievement

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Liberia on December 18, rolled out the red carpet to celebrate employees that have demonstrated excellence, dedication and outstanding performance in the past financial year.

The celebration, which was full of fun, entertainment and rewards, brought together board members, executive and senior management, shareholders, staff as well as esteemed customers of the bank in celebration of individuals and business units that have excelled in realizing the bank’s business targets. 

It was also dubbed by honoring several staff and board members, including some from Corporate and Commercial Banking, Treasurer, Finance Officer, respectively.  

“This is a night to celebrate our staff who have demonstrated very high performance. It is also to show the public that performance is the only language the bank understands. We have worked hard, so we are here to party, but more significantly the Bank has done wonderfully well,” said Madam Nkechi Joyce Arizor, UBA Liberia Managing Director/CEO in a chat with the media at Kailondo Hotel on the Old Road, where the event took place.

According to her, UBA clinched the most prestigious award of being the best bank of the Year 2021, Africa Best Bank of Year in Africa and not only that but in all its subsidiaries in Nigeria including Liberia, which has done well in 2020/2021, will do it again in 2022. 

Madam Arizor attributed the milestone achievement of the bank in 2021 to her enable staff, board members and customers.

She further said that UBA Liberia has reported return on equity increasing from 10.2% to 17.6%.

It can be recalled that in 2021, UBA Liberia repeated its win as the country’s Bank of the Year thanks to significant partnerships with the country’s tax authority and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP). 

The bank was selected by the MFDP for a pilot programme to upgrade the government employee salary-paying system from being cheque-based to one that is fully online. As part of the programme, UBA Liberia developed an application programming interface enabling government agencies and ministries to perform automated payments directly to employees’ bank accounts either US or Liberian dollars, regardless of who the employee banks with. 

The programme has directly improved the government’s payments system, enabling the generation of timely reports that can be used for decision-making by executive management, as well as streamlining service delivery for government employees.

Additionally, the Liberia Revenue Authority introduced its prepaid tax card in collaboration with UBA in September 2020. The co-branded card, which can also be used as a Visa card, enables Liberian residents to pay their tax online, and can also be used for regular purchases anywhere in the world. 

UBA Liberia reported strong financial results for 2020, with a doubling of net income resulting in a return on equity increasing from 10.2% to 17.6% during the year. While the bank’s cost-to-income ratio continued to improve, non-performing loans surged from 6% to 24.1% for the year amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to implementing strict health protocols to check the spread of Covid among employees and customers, the bank restructured loan facilities and extended tenors for borrowers adversely affected by resulting economic tightening in the country during the year. UBA Liberia provided financing for the health ministry’s import of ventilators and other crucial healthcare equipment and donated $150,000 to the government for the provision of aid to the population.    

For his part, Dr. Eugene Shannon, UBA Liberia Board chairman, lauded the management and staff of the bank for their commitment and dedication in achieving its goals.

He said UBA Liberia would not have made it without their support while urging other well-wishers and customers to make UBA their bank because it is reliable, fast, secure and convenient.