Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, has launched Ucee Microfinance Bank (MFB), a subsidiary of United Capital Ltd, Africa’s leading investment bank and financial services group.
Flanked by Chairman of Ucee MFB, Stephen Nwadiuko, Group CEO of United Capital Ltd, Peter Ashade, and Managing Director and CEO of UBC MFB, Esther Adeola-Balogun, Elumelu held the official opening ceremony in Lagos on Monday.
The leading entrepreneur and chairman of Heir Holdings said the MFB was born to realize a long-held dream of the group.
Elumelu said, “What we’re doing today is just one percent of making sure that we help to improve lives, create prosperity, and help the society in living a more comfortable life.”
He expressed optimism that the MFB would exceed the collective expectations of the group, its customers, and the Nigerian people. The top investment banker also expressed confidence in the MD/CEO’s ability to take Ucee MFB “outside Nigeria”.
Ashad said Ucee MFB aims to drive financial inclusion and improve access to capital financial services in line with the objectives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He said, “Our mission is simple, helping our esteemed clients to reach their financial goals and democratizing access to financial services and infrastructure.”
Responding to a journalist’s question, Adeola-Balogun said Ucee MFB is a digitally focused bank and aims to bridge the gap between digital and traditional microfinance banks.
She added that Ucee MFB will not only make profits but will also impact the lives of Nigerians.
She further said, “Our medium of reaching the public is by our mobile app. Our mobile app is our one-stop shop for all our products and services.
“What we want to do differently is that we want to serve people both at the bottom of the pyramid and people that are up there, tech-savvy. So, our services and our products are not tailored towards the traditional microfinance bank and it is not totally tailored towards the digital microfinance bank. We are bridging the gap between the traditional and the digital.”
