UBA is helping finance major projects in Africa – Elumelu

By Odunewu Segun

The United Bank for Africa has been described as pan-African bank that is helping to finance major projects in infrastructure, as well as in the agriculture and construction sectors of the African countries in which it operates.

Chairman of UBA Plc. who is the chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu disclosed this while addressing investors as a guest speaker at the first ‘Colloque Nigeria,’ a colloquium on doing business and investment in Nigeria at the exquisite Palais de Luxembourg, on the need to invest more in Nigeria.

While impressing it on the minds of global investors that Nigeria is remains Africa’s top investment destination, Elumelu said UBA has operated profitably in Nigeria for the past 70 years and in the last decade, increased its footprint into 18 other countries in Africa as it set up business offices in Paris, New York and London.

He told the gathering that like every part of the world, investors in Nigeria and Africa are faced with myriad of challenges, adding that amidst these challenges, no other destinations provide more opportunities and return on investment as do Nigeria and Africa.

He said the large Nigerian economy plays an important leading role in West Africa and beyond with investors benefit spilling to its neighbours in dozens of countries.

According to the founder Tony Elumelu Foundation, despite the current challenges faced by Nigeria, occasioned by the sharp drop in commodity prices, the country still offers one of the highest returns on investment on the continent.

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“The smart investor knows that this is the time to enter our market because the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy remain strong, and where others perceive risk and challenge, the glass is actually half full rather than half empty,” he assured the audience.

Elumelu thanked the investing community for their enthusiasm about investing in Nigeria, just as he urged them to believe in Nigeria and also help to develop Nigeria.

Present of the French Senate, organisers of the Summit, Mr. Gerard Larcher in his remark stressed that the summit was strategic to French business interests, adding that Nigeria remains the first destination of French investment in sub Saharan Africa.