United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, has called for a stronger focus on converting Africa’s vast economic opportunities into commercially viable and investable projects capable of attracting long-term capital.
Alawuba made the call in New York during the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium, held as part of the ongoing engagements around the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where he participated in a fireside chat titled “From Mandate to Impact.”
Speaking on the need to move Africa’s development ambitions from policy commitments to measurable outcomes, the UBA chief executive said the continent’s opportunities require careful preparation, credible institutions and serious capital to become sustainable investments.
He stressed that projects seeking to attract funding must be commercially sustainable, backed by dependable revenue streams and supported by institutions with the capacity to deliver on their commitments.
According to him, accountability and effective project execution are equally important to ensuring that capital deployed to African infrastructure and development projects produces lasting impact.
Drawing from UBA’s operations across the continent, Alawuba highlighted the bank’s role in connecting African businesses and governments with capital, expertise and financial infrastructure.
He cited projects in sectors including telecommunications, energy, roads and digital services as examples of how commercial banking can support development while creating structures that enable investors and lenders to participate sustainably.
One of the examples he referenced was a telecommunications modernisation project in Chad, which UBA financed with a $6.56 million facility in 2021.
According to Alawuba, the project was completed in 2025, with the loan fully repaid. He described the transaction as an illustration of how a clearly defined development need can progress from financing to completion and repayment when appropriate structures, accountability and execution mechanisms are in place.
He also cited UBA’s $45 million loan facility to Oak Asset SPV for road construction in Kenya as another example of the bank's approach to financing development projects.
In that case, he said UBA’s involvement extends beyond project financing to include government collections and contractor facilities, allowing the bank to provide financial support across different stages of the project's delivery chain.
Alawuba said the role of financial institutions in Africa's development is not limited to financing physical infrastructure. Digital financial services, he noted, are also helping businesses and individuals overcome geographical and market barriers.
He pointed to Leo, UBA’s digital banking platform, which he said now serves more than six million users across 20 African countries and processes more than 16 million transactions annually.
The platform supports English, French, Portuguese and Swahili, enabling UBA to serve customers across diverse linguistic and commercial environments.
Alawuba said the bank’s investment in digital banking demonstrates how technology can help connect African markets, expand access to financial services and facilitate everyday transactions as well as cross-border commerce.
He further highlighted UBA’s financing activities in countries including Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Tanzania and Liberia as examples of the various ways commercial banks can contribute to economic development.
Such interventions, he explained, include direct lending, syndicated financing, guarantees, contractor facilities and banking services that support the operations of major projects.
For Alawuba, the experiences across these markets underline the importance of having African financial institutions that understand local conditions while maintaining the international relationships needed to mobilise capital and facilitate cross-border investment.
“At UBA, Africa’s Global Bank, we bring the conviction that African enterprise belongs at the centre of Africa’s transformation, supported by strong institutions and productive global partnerships.”
His remarks at the New York symposium placed emphasis on the need for Africa to move beyond identifying its development potential towards creating projects that are sufficiently structured, accountable and commercially sustainable to attract the capital required to deliver them.
The discussion also highlighted the growing role of African financial institutions in bridging the gap between development ambitions and actual project implementation, particularly in infrastructure, technology, energy and financial services.