United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), the pan African banking group, has announced the opening of its Zambian operations - the first Southern African business unit for the Group. The establishment of a full banking presence in Zambia further emphasises the Group’s vision of bringing world class banking services to all regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and follows its successful openings in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

UBA has over the past year rapidly expanded its network, positioning itself as the bank of choice for wholesale and retail clients in Africa and Africa related businesses, demonstrating in action its positioning as “Africa’s Global Bank”. This physical expansion has been matched by the launch of a series of products designed specifically to address the key needs of African clients, whether individuals, companies or governments, in facilitating money transfer and cash management, trade finance and access to credit.
 
UBA Zambia started operations on Monday, 11 January, 2010 following approval by Bank of Zambia and other relevant regulatory authorities.
 
According to the CEO, UBA Africa, Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa, the Group’s Zambian operations have been strategically positioned to provide comprehensive financial services to support corporate and retail customers in Zambia and allow them to access UBA’s African and global network and product range.
 
“Thanks to our recent rapid expansion across the region and our growing strategic capabilities, we are now well positioned to provide unique products and services leveraging our cross border network – we want to provide services that are truly relevant to all Zambians and Zambia businesses” he said. 

UBA Zambia will implement a well-tested strategy of bringing innovative products across to a wide variety of client segments. It will leverage group relationships to provide a competitive advantage for the corporate business.
 
“We are excited about the prospect of serving our growing number of corporate clients who we believe will benefit from our extensive local and global knowledge” said Abba Bello, MD/CEO UBA Zambia.
 
About UBA Plc
United Bank for Africa Plc is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions offering universal banking to more than 7 million customer accounts. The opening of UBA Zambia brings to 15 the number of countries where UBA Group has presence, namely: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Chad, Benin and Gabon together with presence in New York, London and Paris.