Business
Nigeria’s UBA bank seeks to invest in East Africa’s energy and infrastructure
Over the last decade, intra African trade has emerged as a strong driver of growth across the continent.
Competition among financial institutions in East Africa is heating up with the entry of United Bank for Africa (UBA), one of Nigeria’s top five banks, into the region.
UBA Group CEO, Phillips Oduoza, led a delegation of the bank’s senior executives to a series of high level meetings in the East African capitals of Kampala, Dar es Salaam and Nairobi where he expressed interest in providing financial support for projects in transport, oil, gas, power and telecommunications.
UBA plans to set up an energy desk in their Kenyan office that focuses on structuring energy, oil and gas transactions, said UBA Africa CEO Gabriel Edgal.
The bank has its eyes set on financing various projects under Kenya’s Vision 2030, including the upcoming Konza ICT City, having funded crude oil financing in Senegal worth over US$300 million.
In Uganda, UBA is interested in financing infrastructure and the development of the oil and gas sector. Oduoza said they will support projects in the telecommunications, power and construction sectors as well.
Uganda is yet to start sourcing financing for its planned 20,000 barrels per day refinery in the Albertine Graben region in the western part of the country, it is believed Oduoza’s meeting with government officials discussed UBA’s possible role in helping to finance the planned 40 percent stake in the US$2.2 billion development.
