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“With our expansion in London, African countries trade barriers with the UK have been reduced and we now expect top African exporters to the UK will take advantage of the new bank to increase their trade with the now anticipated reduced restrictions,” said Uzoka in London during the official unveiling of the UBA-UK subsidiary/COURTESY

Kenya

UBA bank opens subsidiary in London

“With our expansion in London, African countries trade barriers with the UK have been reduced and we now expect top African exporters to the UK will take advantage of the new bank to increase their trade with the now anticipated reduced restrictions,” said Uzoka in London during the official unveiling of the UBA-UK subsidiary/COURTESY

LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 2 – The United Bank of Africa has opened a subsidiary in the United Kingdom.

UBA Group Managing Director, Kennedy Uzoka said the launch of UBA-UK will strengthen the bank’s abilities in meeting the growing cross-border financing needs while positioning the bank as the prime conduit for trade and foreign investments into and across Africa, as well as export flows to the United Kingdom.

“With our expansion in London, African countries trade barriers with the UK have been reduced and we now expect top African exporters to the UK will take advantage of the new bank to increase their trade with the now anticipated reduced restrictions,” said Uzoka in London during the official unveiling of the UBA-UK subsidiary.

Uzoka is optimistic that investors in the UK will now take advantage of the London-based Pan African bank to do direct foreign investment in Africa especially in the 20 African countries where UBA bank is operational.

“We are now set to offer UK to Africa direct investment to boost trade between the UK and African countries.

We don’t expect anything negative from the Brexit issue. Whatever happens, will not affect the UBA-UK vision for Africa,” he added.

Kenya’s High Commissioner to the UK, Manoah Esipisu who also attended the launch of the UBA-UK bank welcomed the development saying it’s significant for an African bank to get a UK operating license.

“This shows that a great number of our players can and will perform at the very top of the global stage. It also means that for our Kenyans in the Diaspora, especially those that are small and medium enterprises, there is another avenue for access to credit which critical to their growth,” said the envoy.

Esipisu is confident that the 70-year old bank will focus on the challenges faced by African based entrepreneurs and Africans in Diaspora.

UBA Africa CEO, Victor Osadolor said that UBA-UK bank will help to harness the potential of trade in Africa.

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Osadolor has said the bank understands what it takes to do business in Africa due it’s long banking experience in Africa.

“London is the global financial hub due its geographical location and we expect our 17 million customers in 20 African countries to reap the benefits of our operation in the UK,” he stated.

Speaking at the same event, UBA-UK CEO, Patrick Gutmann expressed confidence that the bank won’t be affected if Brexit happens, adding that London still remains a significant global financial hub.

Going by the new framework, the UBA-UK bank will now offer full scale treasury services, cash management, corporate lending and wholesale deposit offerings to professional and eligible counterparties.

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