UBA appoints Chris Ofikulu as new MD/CEO

The Board of Directors of United Bank for Africa (Ghana) Limited (UBA Ghana) has appointed Mr. Chris Ofikulu as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA Ghana. He replaces Mr. Olalekan Balogun.

Chris comes on board with over 30 years’ banking experience, of which 28 years has been in Business Development.

Prior to his appointment as MD/CEO of UBA Ghana, Chris was the UBA Group’s Directorate Head, Apapa 1 (Corporate) in Nigeria.

Before joining UBA Group, Chris had worked at one of the top commercial banks in Nigeria, Diamond Bank, where he served in various capacities including Directorate Head in charge of the South Businesses and Directorate Head in charge of Lagos and West Businesses.

Chris was also the pioneer Managing Director of Diamond Pension Fund Custodian Limited.

Chris holds a B.Sc. (First Class) Degree in Industrial Mathematics from the University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria; and an MBA from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He also attended the following prestigious Business Schools: The Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, where he did Advanced Management programme; IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona; and Lagos Business School, Pan-African University. He equally attended Leadership and Corporate Governance Training at the Henley Business School, University of Reading, U.K.; and Advanced Company Direction Programme, Institute of Directors, London.

Chairman of the Board directors, Kweku Awotwi, states that the board is delighted to have someone of Chris’ calibre and experience to continue the bank’s growth strategy. He brings with him exceptional leadership qualities, breadth of knowledge and deep insights of the sub-region which will be useful in driving growth of the Ghana business.

He reiterated that UBA Ghana is the biggest subsidiary operation of UBA Plc outside of Nigeria, and the board has a strong belief that Chris’ experience from other jurisdictions will be useful in improving what they are already doing in Ghana – making UBA a major force in the industry.

Welcoming the news, Mr. Ofikulu expressed appreciation to the Board and other stakeholders of the bank. He noted: “I wish to thank all our stakeholders for the warm welcome. UBA Ghana has a remarkable platform of great people and the drive for excellence.

“I sincerely look forward to working with the Board of Directors, Management Team and Employees in making UBA Ghana one of the leading banks in Ghana, in line with our status as ‘Africa’s Global Bank’.”

Source: B&FT