UBA invests $5bn in African infrastructure development

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc says it has invested more than $5 billion to support infrastructure development across the African continent in the last seven years.
Mr Oliver Alawuba, the Chief Executive Officer, Anglophone UBA Group, stated this at the 2017 Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) African Journalism Fellowship and 3rd Annual TEF Entrepreneurship Forum in Lagos.
Alawuba said that the investment in the last five to seven years, which cut across African countries where the bank exists, were in electricity, power generation, road construction and rehabilitation.
He said that some of the countries where the funds were invested include Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Benin Republic and Nigeria.
Alawuba said that over 500 million dollars had been invested in the power sector to touch the lives of the citizens.
He stated that the bank was committed to African development and would continue to support infrastructure development.
“We see ourselves as a development partner in Africa and development is critical to Africa.
“Most African countries are at different stages of development and evolution; we need infrastructure. Our economies will be helped by more inter African trade,” Alawuba said.
Mr Emeke Iweriebor, the Chief Executive Officer, Francophone UBA Group, said that the company was interested in African development.
“We are interested in African development, our passion in UBA is how we can develop Africa in line with our chairman’s vision using Africa capitalism,” Iweriebor said.
He said that the bank supported oil and gas industry with one billion dollars in Ghana, noting that oil and gas was key to Ghana.
Iweriebor added that the company had invested the sum of 200 million dollars in cocoa production in Ghana, adding that Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire produce over 50 per cent of cocoa in Africa.
According to him, the bank is supporting several government projects in different African countries to strengthen development and growth.
He said that TEF and UBA supported the recent mudslide victims in Sierra Leone and also supported Ebola victims in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Libya.