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Read our exclusive interview
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 UNION
BANK OF NIGERIA PLC
"...Big, Strong,
Reliable"
Manager:
Mr. Alhaji Mohammed Yahaya (former), Managing
Director
Contact:
Lagos Head Office
40 Marina
Lagos
Telephone +234 1 2665439
+234 1 2665441
+234 1 2665445
Facsimile +234 1 2666315
Email ubnhq.@alpha.linkserve.com
London Office
14/18 Cpthall Avenue
London EC 2R 7BN
United Kingdom
Telephone +44 171 600 0751
Johannesburg Office
13 Fredman Drive
8th floor, Norwich Towers
Sandton, Johannesburg 2199
South Africa
Telephone +27 11 883 2754
+27 11 883 2915
+27 11 883 3313
Facsimile +27 11 883 2781
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Union Bank of Nigeria in partnership with Ria Express and Vigo Money Remittance corporation
gives you the following advantages in receiving money from anywhere worldwide.
. convenient access through our branch network nationwide.
. safe and at no charges to thr receiver.
. option to receive payment in cash, certified cheque, drafts, or credit into account.
. current exchange rate of the naira.
. easy and fast contact at your home no matter where you live in Nigeria.
. you don't need to have an account with us.
. no long journey because there is always a union bank branch near you.
For futher information: contact our international banking department on telephone numbers:
(01) 2644213, 2644216, 2662457, 2661407
...Big, Strong, Reliable
Strategy
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. Was established in 1917 as a Colonial Bank with its first branch in Lagos. It went through transformations between 1925 and 1970 during which the bank’s branch network expanded to 59. It acquired legal incorporation in Nigeria as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barclays Bank International Limited in 1969 and was subsequently renamed Barclays Bank of Nigeria Limited. In 1970, the bank went public and nine years later it adopted a new name - Union Bank of Nigeria Limited to reflect its new image and ownership structure, having sold the balance of its shareholding to Nigerians.
Today Union Bank remains the oldest privately-owned commercial bank wholly owned and managed by Nigerians. As a leading commercial bank, it renders high quality retail l banking services to its numerous customers through its 268 branches including a full-fledged offshore branch in London and a representative office in Johannesburg South Africa,
In addition to its branch network, Union Bank maintains international correspondent banking relationships through many international banks spread across the globe. It is hoped that by the year 2000, Union Bank’s branch network would have h it the 300 mark in its attempt to enable more Nigerians and indeed more of the international community have access to its ever-increasing convenient banking services.
 Union Bank Services
The bank’s services can be categorised into two L the generalised and the tailor-made. Generalised services include:
Current , Savings and Deposit Accounts
Fund Transfers
Foreign Currency Domiciliation Accounts
Loans and Overdrafts and so on.
Tailor-made Services include the following:
Equipment Leasing
Commercial Papers
Bankers Acceptances
Trade Finance Enquiries
Export and Import Documentation and Finance all of which are deigned to meet the peculiar requirement of the customer.
Institutional Development
The economic restructuring measures initiated by Nigeria in the mid-80s heralded tremendous opportunities and challenges especially in the domestic financial sector. Union Bank responded to these challenges by establishing a number of subsidiaries such as:
Union Homes Savings and Loans Limited - a mortgage finance company
Union Trustees Nigeria Limited
UBN Merchant bank Limited
Consolidated Discount House Limited
Banque International de Bénin
Afrexim Bank
UBN’s Strategic Plan
The Bank’s strategic plan is focused on ensuring a proactive and comprehensive response to the dynamics of the operating environment. The Plan called for a rigorous restructuring exercise in the bank’s Information technology, Human Resources, branch Network and process Re-engineering all of which are aimed at:
Evolving efficient and productive procedures for improved customer’s service
Cutting a competitive edge in the industry
Deployment of the right type of technology for optimal returns
Enhanced market penetration for higher market share
Development of the human resources for highly skilled, monitored and productive workforce.
Evolution of a management structure that will engender improved qualitative and timely decision making process.
Automation of Service Delivery
In its quest to be more competitive in service delivery, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. has re-aligned its computerisation programmes to satisfy the needs of its customers. The following computerised products are available at UBN :
Customer self-service window (CSW) which enables customers of some branches to obtain details of their accounts directly from the computer system .
Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) which links up major commercial branches in a network that makes it possible for customers to transfer their business from locations other than where they maintain accounts.
Corporate Treasury’s window (CTW) through which customers maintain constant link with the bank by obtaining information readily from terminals located in their own offices
Automated Teller Machines (ATM), an easy-cash dispenser which facilitates instant cash withdrawals at the Head Office, Lekki and Ikeja branches.
The Proxy Sub-system is now provided by Union Bank registrar’s department for companies’ annual general meetings
At the International level, the bank has been appointed an agent of the World wide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT). This speeds up international financial transactions.
The bank embarked on an ambitious programme to acquire state of the art technology to meet contemporary and future service demands. A VSAT telecommunication system to link 70 branches is the first phase of a bank-wide on-line real-time processing system which should have started running in the last quarter of 1998.
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INTERVIEW WITH
ALHAJI MOHAMMED F. YAHAYA
FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, UNION BANK, NIGERIA
February 8th, 1999.
FORBES: Alhaji Yahaya, your bank is among the first in Nigeria. Could you give us a brief historical background to Union Bank and how it attained that position.
YAHAYA: Union Bank came into Nigeria in 1917, which is barely 80 years ago. It came in the name of Barclay's Bank DCO, which is a British Bank. It was the second commercial bank in the country at that time, the first one being the parent company of First Bank. From that historical perspective, it gave Union Bank the opportunity to take advantage of the growing economy in Nigeria and to assist in its development. As a result of this, it has attained the position of one of the top banks in the country today. Of course, the right policies were also put in place to make sure that we responded to the opportunities which kept occurring and re-occurring over time.
Secondly, as a result of its age, Union Bank has come to possess a large corps of trained, professional and experienced bankers. This has come about because of the policy of the bank to invest in manpower. We have a very comprehensive manpower training and development policy in Union Bank which has produced a good corps of professionals experienced in their various fields, and who are a great asset to the bank.
Thirdly, through its branch network policy, Union Bank is the second largest in terms of branch network with about 280 branches throughout the country. This is a source of strength for the bank, as through these branches we are able to mobilize the capital required, which is part of the functions of any commercial bank anyway, to mobilize capital. So, through these branches we are able to mobilize capital through savings and deposits by people and we have come to own the largest saving/deposit base in the country today: about 80 billion Naira in deposits, the highest in the country. So, history, training and development, and branch network policies, have contributed to the growth of Union Bank over the years.
FORBES: You have offices in New York and London. Who are your partners in those countries and how do you plan to expand your international operations?
YAHAYA: Let me first correct an impression: we do not have any office in New York, yet. But we have a full-fledged branch in London, which is about 16 years old and has been a success story so far. However, may be you'd like to know that we have a rep office in South Africa, opened about 4 years ago, making Union Bank the first Nigerian bank to show its presence in post-apartheid South Africa. We plan to expand our international operations by pursuing our application for an office in the United States. The application has been pending for some time and we have not pressed it because we felt that the US government is not comfortable with the political situation in Nigeria. But we hope that as soon as we fully democratize, we will pursue that application and get approval for an office to be established in New York.
FORBES: Which will now be soon.
YAHAYA: Yes, that is supposed to be soon, thank you. And then, next, we eyeing the west African coast. Initially, we thought that we could take advantage of the newly democratized and now peaceful Liberia, but the situation there is still not very clear, so we are looking at one or two countries on the West Coast of Africa.
FORBES: The Minister of Finance, Alhaji Usman told us that the banking sector is metaphorically the gateway for any potential investors to come into the country. How is your bank trying to accommodate these foreign investors?
YAHAYA: Yes, I think the Minister is quite right, and we are also eyeing that too. But we are getting ourselves ready to provide the most efficient and up-to-date, modern service to our would-be foreign investors. To this end, we have put in place a very comprehensive programme of computerization, so that we can improve on our IT system, and I can tell you quite a fortune is being spent on that. We hope that in the next couple of months about 71 branches will be connected by radio link. Secondly, we are renewing our banking package with a view to ensuring that our branches are modernized in network, layout and giving sufficient empowerment so that they can deliver service quickly to would-be customers. We intend to strengthen our London operations, together with the proposed New York branch, we think we will be able to provide all that we need to in ensuring that foreign investors coming to Nigeria are able to get the best out of the services we provide.
FORBES: On a more personal level, what has been your greatest achievement since being MD of Union Bank?
YAHAYA: There are many. Actually, I have been heading the bank now for 6 years. When I first came in there were a number of problems, especially in the areas of liquidity, customer deposits, staffing and in the need to diversify the bank's operations in order to retain its market share. We have managed to get over all this, and in the past 6 years the bank has witnessed a growth rate of not less than 30% in its asset base as well as in profitability. Secondly, we managed to diversify operations by establishing a number of subsidiaries and including associate companies. I think today the bank has about 4 subsidiaries and 2 other associate companies all in the finance sector. And thirdly, when we took over the bank, this edifice was only constructed to the 7th floor. Today, I am glad to say , we have achieved completion and we financed it from our internally generated funds, without having to resort to the capital market to raise funds. The 32-storey building today is a landmark. I' m sure it is the tallest on the West African coast and it is likely to be the tallest in Africa too. So it is an achievement that I am very proud of and I think that if I leave this bank today I will look back with some satisfaction that indeed, I made history.
FORBES: One final question: considering that we reach 4.5 million readers consisting of many potential investors from the US, what would be your final message to them?
YAHAYA: I have always a message. But my current message would be that, in the hope that the democratization programme in the country will be fully in place in 4 months time, I think that they should restore their confidence in Nigeria as a big market, a country with diverse resources and a lot of potentials. I think, provided that we can provide the required level of political stability, Nigeria should be the number one country in Africa that they should look at for investment. It is the largest market, very strategically located even in Africa itself, being on the breast of Africa. It is the gateway to West Africa and even to Africa. It is centrally located. A few hours to Cairo, a few hours to Johannesburg. So, I think they should look at it from that perspective. And in addition I think we have a number of attractions: a very enterprising people, well educated, with the unique advantage English, the international language, as the official language. Investors are therefor likely to feel more at home here than in other, neighbouring countries which are also smaller in terms of market size and resource base. So Nigeria, I think is the number one country which foreign investors should always look at when they are looking at Africa, given the potentials it has. But we pray that we'll be able to get over the problem of political instability within the next couple of months, and that policies will remain consistent, as well as well as to provide the enabling environment that investors require to come in.
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© World INvestment NEws, 1999.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Nigeria published in FORBES Magazine,
May 31 st issue.
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NIGERIA
