UBA Group dominates Banker Awards again, emerges ‘Africa’s Bank of the Year 2025’

*Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, once more, wins Best Bank in nine out of 20 African subsidiaries, reaffirming its leadership as one of the continent’s most innovative and resilient financial institutions

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc once again, has reaffirmed its leadership as one of the continent’s most innovative and resilient financial institutions, as the bank, for the third time in five years, has been named the ‘African Bank of the Year 2025’ by the Banker.com.

UBA also won the Best Bank of the Year awards in nine of its 20 African subsidiaries, bringing its total awards this year to ten as UBA Benin, UBA Chad, UBA Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), UBA Liberia, UBA Mali, UBA Mozambique, UBA Senegal, UBA Sierra Leone, and UBA Zambia, all came out tops as the best banks in their respective countries, underscoring the bank’s strength across West, Central and Southern Africa and highlighting the depth of its Pan-African franchise.

UBA Plc Headquarters in Lagos

ConsumerConnect reports The Banker.com is a leading global finance news publication published by the Financial Times of London.

It organises the annual Bank of the Year Awards, and the group held this year’s edition Wednesday, December 2, 2025, at a grand ceremony at the Peninsula, in London, United Kingdom (UK).

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The leading commercial bank disclosed Deji Adeyelure, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UBA UK, representing Oliver Alawuba, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO), received the awards in the UK.

The bank’s Head Business Development, Mark Ifashe, and Head of Financial Institutions, Shilpam Jha accompanied Adeyelure to the occasion.

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The Banker’s awards are widely regarded as the most respected and rigorous in the global banking industry, celebrating institutions that demonstrate outstanding performance, innovation and strategic execution.

How UBA Group wins third time in 5 years: The Banker

Speaking on UBA’s winnings, the banker.com said: “For the third time in five years, UBA Group has won the coveted Bank of the Year Award for Africa. UBA Group time after time punches above its weight against its larger African rivals.

“The bank this year also takes home nine separate country awards (one more than it gained for its last continental win in 2024), equivalent to around a quarter of the awards for the continent, and more than any of its continent-wide rivals.”

The banker.com also stated: “Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the awards were won across a broad geographic spread, going to lenders based in the Economic Community of West African States (Benin, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and former member Mali), the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Chad, Republic of Congo) and the Southern African Development Community (Mozambique, Zambia). Its award wins were particularly notable in the highly competitive categories for Benin and Mozambique.”

The Banker further highlighted UBA’s strong financial performance and commitment to future growth.

On UBA’s financial performance in 2024

The UBA noted the Group, in 2024, recorded a 46.8 percent increase in assets and a 6.1 percent rise in pre-tax profits in local currency terms, while continuing to invest significantly in talent and technology.

West Africa remains UBA’s heartland, with operating revenue and profit increasing by 87 percent and 89 per cent respectively in H1 2025.

The bank’s digital and innovation leadership was equally recognised.

During the year under review, and launched its Advance Top-Up buy-now-pay-later feature on the *919# USSD platform, expanding financial access for customers.

The bank’s chatbot Leo continued its strong growth trajectory, with transaction volumes rising by 29 percent year-on-year in H1 2025.

Notably, in August, Leo became the first African banking chatbot to enable cross-border payments via the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

UBA Group growing with impact, says Alawuba, GMD/CEO

Commenting on the latest achievement, Oliver Alawuba, Group Managing Director/CEO of UBA Group, said the recognition affirmed the bank’s long-term strategy and customer-first philosophy.

He stated: “This honour reflects the strength of our Pan-African network, the trust of our customers, and the dedication of our people.

“Winning Africa’s Bank of the Year for the third time in five years is not by chance; it is a testament to disciplined execution, innovation, and a deep understanding of the markets we serve.”

The UBA Chief also noted: “Our nine country awards across diverse regions of Africa show that UBA is not just growing, but growing with impact.

“We remain committed to driving financial inclusion, supporting economic development, and deploying technology that makes banking simpler, faster, and more accessible to Africans everywhere.”

United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group-wide and serving over 45 million customers globally. Operating in twenty African countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting-edge technology.

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