The Chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr Tony Elumelu, has said the bank will meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalisation requirement of N500bn before the third quarter of 2025, well ahead of the March 2026 deadline for commercial banks with international authorisation.

Elumelu gave the assurance on Friday while addressing shareholders at the bank’s 65th Annual General Meeting held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. He said UBA had already taken significant steps towards achieving the target, including the successful completion of a rights issue in 2024.

“Our current capital in the year 2024 was N116bn. However, following the rights issue that we launched in November last year, which was oversubscribed, N251bn has been verified and approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” he said.

The rights issue, which closed in December, saw 6.84 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each offered to existing shareholders at N35 per share. Elumelu noted that although the issue was oversubscribed by N11.6bn, the bank could only take up N240bn, returning the balance to shareholders. This brought UBA’s new capital base to N355.2bn, with the remaining N144.8bn expected to be raised before the end of the year.

“The final capital raise is expected to be completed in Q3 2025, well ahead of the CBN deadline,” he said.

Elumelu said the decision to raise capital through a rights issue instead of a public offering was to protect shareholder value and avoid diluting the wealth created by existing investors.

“If we were selfish, we would do a public offering. But we said, let’s give the opportunity to existing shareholders. So, we pay dividends, and some of you use it to invest. The investment you’re making means you are sharing in the N3.4tn wealth that your investment has helped create,” he said.

He added that UBA’s long-standing approach of reinvesting retained earnings rather than paying out all profits as dividends had strengthened the bank’s capital base over the years.

“Our paid-up share capital is N116bn, and our shareholders’ fund is N3.4tn. That is over $3.2bn. Why should we bring in new investors to take what you have already built?” he said.

According to him, proceeds from the capital raise would be deployed to scale digital infrastructure and expand the bank’s footprint across Nigeria, Africa, and globally.

Elumelu said the bank delivered another strong performance in the 2024 financial year, with gross revenue rising to N3.2tn and profit after tax standing at N767bn. Total customer deposits rose by 42 per cent to N24.6tn, while the loan portfolio expanded by 35 per cent to N7.5tn. Total assets and shareholders’ funds closed at N30.3tn and N3.4tn, respectively.

“These strong results reflect the execution of our long-term strategy and the hard work of our staff in delivering value and innovation,” he said.

He noted that the bank now serves over 45 million customers across 24 countries on four continents, a milestone that reflects UBA’s role as Africa’s global bank.

Elumelu also restated UBA’s commitment to sustainability and responsible corporate citizenship. He said the bank had planted 4,550 tree seedlings in 2024, helping offset about 212,000kg of carbon emissions. The bank also distributed over 13,000 books through its Read Africa Initiative to promote literacy and rekindle reading culture among young people.

He announced that UBA was named Bank of the Year in five African countries by The Banker Magazine, and also emerged as Best Regional Bank – West Africa at the African Banker Awards.

“To our shareholders, we appreciate your confidence in our strategy. Your support is essential as we remain focused on creating long-term value for all stakeholders,” he said.

Responding to shareholders’ questions, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA, Mr Oliver Alawuba, said the bank was focused on enhancing customer experience through heavy investment in digital platforms and artificial intelligence.

“The customer is the reason we exist as UBA. We are investing heavily in digital banking to improve your experience when you interact digitally or physically with the bank,” he said.

He added that the proceeds from the recapitalisation would also be used to improve fraud monitoring systems, expand into new markets such as France and Saudi Arabia, and establish customer fulfilment centres to resolve issues promptly.

“What you call complaints, we call feedback. We use this feedback to improve your experience,” he said.

Alawuba noted that the bank had made significant progress since shareholders requested a shift from “kobo-kobo” dividend to more substantial returns.

“We are improving and doing our best to ensure that the next time we meet, we’ll be able to move closer to, if not exceed, the N7 dividend target that has been set for us,” he said.

The shareholders approved a final dividend of N3.00 per share, bringing the total dividend payout for 2024 to N5.00 per share, including the N2.00 interim dividend paid earlier.

They also re-elected Mr Tony Elumelu as Chairman of the Board and commended the management for the bank’s consistent growth and strong corporate governance.