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Pan-African banking group, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc at the weekend carted home two very important laurels at the annual Businessday Banking Awards, winning the Best Bank in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Best Bank in support of Agriculture.
Meanwhile, “93 Days” a movie which depicts the true account of how Nigeria faced its first case of the Ebola Virus and conquered it, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Friday, 9 September, 2016.
UBA co-sponsored the production of the movie, which is a profound story of courage and sacrifice and the call to duty at the risk of one’s life. The movie “93 days” is about the men and women who risked their lives and made sacrifices to save Nigeria from the consequences of the Ebola Virus outbreak.
The first award, the “Best Bank in sub-Saharan Africa award is in recognition of UBA’s leadership role in expanding access to banking across Africa. UBA has operations in 19 African countries with subsidiaries in major regional hubs.
The Bank also won the award for “Best Bank in Agriculture Financing”, for its consistent support to the agricultural sector in Nigeria, a substantial part of its loan book being devoted to agriculture and related activities.
Speaking whilst receiving the awards on behalf of the bank, Charles Aigbe, Head of Communications, expressed his appreciation to the organisers of the award for the recognition of the unique role UBA is playing on the African continent in driving financial inclusion as well as supporting the growth of critical sectors.
“Agriculture is pivotal to economic development in Nigeria and all of Africa. We are pleased with the recognition of our support to the sector. Our expansion to Africa has not only helped to diversify our earnings base, it has provided us with the opportunity to grow economies and partake in the development of Africa. We thank all stakeholders for their support and are encouraged to do even more” he said.
Frank Aigbogun Publisher, BusinessDay, Nigeria’s leading business newspaper emphasised that the BusinessDay Banking Awards is the product of a rigorous process by BusinessDay’s Research and Intelligence Unit, designed to feed the editorial and also drive commercial research.
UBA, as a pan – African bank, played a significant role in the fight against the Ebola virus in the sub region and was pleased to support the story of how the spread of deadly virus was stopped in Nigeria. In the midst of the crisis UBA kept its banking doors open every day in the three of the most affected countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, an unprecedented act of corporate courage on the part of the bank and its dedicated staff.
Explaining why UBA sponsored the movie, Aigbe said that UBA sponsored “93 Days” to educate people about the magnitude of the threat Nigeria faced, as well as the remarkable courage shown by Nigerians who risked their lives to save millions of people.
He said: “We cannot overstate the importance of recording this historical act of African heroism. For the first time on the big screen, the world will be able to see what extraordinary feats were accomplished when Nigerians united behind a common goal. This is an inspirational story that UBA believes must be told about the spirit of Africa: one of courage, resilience and persistence.”
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