Leadership
The Group is led by a Board comprising a Chairman, independent Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors.
Management
The leadership team of the bank is made up of a crop of seasoned and industry-recognized professionals, with diverse (but complementary) skills in various backgrounds, as well as depth of experience (garnered from national and international institutions). Over the years, these executives have brought their knowledge, experience and leadership to bear on the development and delivery of solutions (through products and services) to meet the needs of our customers and, in the process, contributing to sustaining the performance of the bank till date.
Kenneth Orji
Mr. Orji was educated at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria where he was a J. F. Kennedy Scholar, having emerged national first place winner of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Essay Contest, organized by the US Government. He graduated with BSc Hons. and was awarded the Sir James Robertson Prize and Medal for Outstanding Performance in Economics. He also obtained MSc Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics and attended Harvard Business School (Program for Management Development).
Mr. Orji has over 33 years’ experience, primarily in banking and finance, human capital development, consulting and advisory services. He began his banking career at International Merchant Bank Limited, Nigeria (the affiliate of First National Bank of Chicago). He then moved to Diamond Bank Limited where he was General Manager and Head of Divisions responsible for Corporate Banking, Commercial and Consumer Banking, Treasury, Investment Banking, Energy Unit, Project Finance, Public Sector, Private Banking, Strategic Planning, Financial Control, Risk Management, and Systems/Technology. He contributed to major innovations in the Nigerian banking industry and was involved in national policy development as a pioneer member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and the Technical Committee of Nigeria’s Vision 2010 project.
Mr. Orji is currently Chairman/CEO of Centennial Capital Limited and Director of several companies
James Olubayi
James is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for UBA Kenya. He holds a First Class Honours degree in Actuarial Science from City University in London and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (“FIA”).
He is an Executive Director and immediate former Chief Executive of Zamara, Kenya. He has several years’ of experience in international actuarial consulting in the United Kingdom and South Africa before establishing the Hymans Robertson Consulting Actuaries Kenya (now Zamara) in May 1994. James is an appointed Actuary to several pension schemes, and insurance companies in East and Central Africa.
James currently sits on a number of Boards for private sector companies in East Africa. He is also the Liaison Officer of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in Kenya and the current President of The Actuarial Society of Kenya (TASK).
Emeke E. Iweriebor
Mr Emeke E. Iweriebor is the CEO of UBA East and Southern Africa (ESA). In his role he oversees the strategic development and activities within the ESA region, as well as spearheading further expansion.
Mr. Iweriebor has over two decades of experience in financial services, and has worked for a number of leading financial institutions. During his tenure at UBA, he has served as the pioneer MD/CEO of UBA Cameroon, and Head of UBA CES, the bank’s country subsidiaries in Central, East and Southern Africa.
Mr. Iweriebor is the holder of a BSc and MSc in International Relations as well as an MBA from the University of Lagos. He also has an EMP from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
Olive Mugenda – C.B.S., E.B.S.
Olive Mugenda holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc in Family Studies, Education, Consumer Sciences and Research Methods from Iowa State University (USA), MBA from the Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute and Bachelor of Education (First Class Honours) from the University of Nairobi.
She was previously the Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University from 2006 to 2016. Before this, she was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Finance Planning & Development). She has also held various Board positions in a number of organizations including Chairperson, Association of Commonwealth Universities; Vice-President- International Association of Universities; Director, Nation Media Group; Member, Association of African Universities; Kenya National Examinations Council; Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) among others.
Professor Mugenda was awarded the Ernst & Young Life Time Achievement Award- 2014, The Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) Presidential Award- 2011 and The Elder of Burning Spear (EBS) Presidential Award- 2006. In February 2016, she was also honoured by the French Government through the French Embassy with the order of Academic Palms – a national order of France for Distinguished Academics and figures in the world for her efforts in steering the University’s growth.
Ebele Ogbue
Ebele Ogbue is the General Manager, UBA Energy Bank at United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. His responsibilities are to acquire, deepen and expand the relationship the Bank has with multinational & regional corporates, international and institutional organisations in Africa. He is also responsible for supporting the growth of the wholesale banking business, which includes among other responsibilities, developing and driving the intra and inter-regional trade business of the bank across the various trade corridors in Africa.
He was the Chief Executive Officer at UBA Capital (Europe) Limited, UBA Liberia Ltd for two years and UBA in Sierra Leone. He was also a senior member of the team that set up UBA (formerly Standard Trust Bank) in Ghana in 2004, where he was the Chief Credit Officer for three years from 2004 to 2007.
Ebele has worked for other international banks, such as Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank in Nigeria and Ghana, and has a wealth of experience working in the financial services industry in West Africa. He practiced as an Auditor with Price Waterhouse before starting his banking career. He holds a first degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos, and an MBA from the CASS Business School.
Alphan Njeru
Mr. Alphan Njeru holds a degree in Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Nairobi, is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Public Secretary of Kenya. He is a fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAK) and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK). He was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 24 years, a firm he worked with for 36 years. At the time of his retirement, he was the leader of the Advisory /Consulting Business in PwC Kenya as well as a seasoned public sector services practitioner and a member of the executive team that managed the Kenyan business of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Over his career, at PwC he has audited and consulted for several organizations in both public and private sectors.
He holds various Board positions in a number of organizations within both the public and private sectors, including Chairman of Resolution Insurance Kenya Limited. Mr. Njeru has extensive knowledge of public sector having worked on public finance projects and programmes in the region for several years. He is also active in the development and social activities of his community and has been the chairman of Mayori Secondary school for the last 10 years and Vice Chair of the university council for Embu University College.
Susan Nkirote Omanga
Mrs. Susan Omanga holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management with a Minor in Advertising from Rocky Mountain College in Billings Montana, USA. She is a member of the International Advertising Association (IAA), the Marketing Society of Kenya (MSK), and the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK).
Susan is the CEO and founder of Exclamation Marketing Limited. She has previously served as the Head of Marketing in East Africa at Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank. She also held previous senior marketing positions at Colgate Palmolive E.A Limited, and Boots (K). Her board experience includes serving as a non-executive Director in the Group Board of KCB where she was also Chairperson of KCB Foundation for 4 years, Director S & L Mortgages for 2 years and Director KCB Uganda for 4 years. Ms. Omanga holds various Board positions in a number of organizations such as UAP- Old Mutual Group, Longhorn Publishers, Kenya Tea Packers Limited (KETEPA), Pink Progress and Acumen Fund.
We have a diverse but complementary team
Over the years, these executives have brought their knowledge, experience and leadership to bear on the development and delivery of solutions (through products and services) to meet the needs of our customers.
Our People
At UBA, we realise that our people remain our most valuable assets. Our people are our competitive edge in a highly dynamic and competitive banking environment. We have invested in the best performance management systems to ensure our people always have the cutting-edge skills to excel in what they do.
We also have in place financial and non-financial incentive schemes, including a staff recognition scheme to reward our high-performance staff members for excelling in their duties.
Our staff is multicultural, multilingual, and highly diverse in outlook, reflecting the richness and diversity of the 23 countries we operate in. Our people strategy is hinged on always seeking to employ the best people, and creating a conducive environment for them to excel in their work and to delight customers, while providing competitive remuneration and reward systems to retain our best hands.
UBA employees are fondly referred to as the ‘UBA Lions and Lionesses’, reflecting the confidence with which they deliver financial solutions to the bank’s customers.