United Bank for Africa, Africa's Global Bank

Abidjan, Ivory Coast

UBA’s has more than 65 years of providing uninterrupted banking operations dating back to 1948 when the British and French Bank Limited (“BFB”) commenced business in Africa. BFB was a subsidiary of Banque Nationale de Crédit (BNCI), Paris, which transformed its London branch into a separate subsidiary called the British and French Bank, with shares held by Banque Nationale de Crédit and two British investment firms, S.G. Warburg and Company and Robert Benson and Company.

The quest to build a strong domestic and African brand intensified in 2008 when UBA made further acquisitions of two liquidated banks, Gulf Bank and Liberty Bank while at the same time intensifying its African footprint with the establishment of UBA Cameroon, UBA Cote d Ivoire, UBA Uganda, UBA Sierra Leone, and UBA Liberia as well as the acquisition of a 51% interest in Banque Internationale du Burkina Faso, which was the largest bank in the country with 40% market share. Currently, UBA has 18 African subsidiaries contributing about 20% of the Group’s balance sheet.