UBA Showcase Leadership at Africa Prosperity Dialogue 2025

By Jessica Osajie / Posted February 7, 2025

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has reaffirmed its commitment to Africa’s economic prosperity as it seeks to address the continent’s pressing infrastructure financing challenges.

Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com

The UBA has expanded its operations globally and Africa-wide, now positioned as Africa’s Global Bank.

The bank’s Regional CEO for West Africa, Sarata Kone-Thiam, speaking during a high-level panel discussion in Accra at the Africa Prosperity Dialogue 2025, emphasised the need for sustainable and bankable projects to attract investment and drive development across the continent.

The panel discussion was part of the Africa Prosperity Dialogue 2025 – a platform for transformational change and assemblage of premier gathering of policymakers, business leaders, and development partners focused on accelerating economic integration and sustainable growth across Africa.

With the theme “Delivering Africa’s Single Market through Infrastructure: Invest. Connect. Integrate”, the event, which was well attended by government officials, business leaders, financial experts, and development partners, united stakeholders in their goal to shape Africa’s economic future. Through innovative financing and strategic partnerships, the platform facilitated discussions on solutions to bridge the continent’s infrastructure gap.

Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com

There must be a way to address the investment challenges in Africa, opined Sarata Kone.Thiam. In her remarks, she stressed the importance of fostering trust among African investors and international stakeholders to encourage long-term investment. She highlighted the critical issue of limited bankable projects, noting that Africa must prioritize structuring investment-ready proposals to attract both global and local investors.

Kone-Thiam further emphasized that Africa’s economic growth hinges on fostering cross-border infrastructure, innovative financing and regional collaboration. She drew focus to the untapped potential of Africa’s pension funds and remittances as she explained that Africa’s pension funds and the $100 billion in annual remittances from the diaspora represent a significant source of capital which if structured properly, could be channelled into transformative infrastructure projects.

While the gathering advocated insights from industry leaders in order to build a sustainable future, another member on the panel, was CFO of MTN Ghana, Antoinette Kwofie, who echoed the need for a more stable regulatory environment to attract investment. Partner at Argentina Capital, Olumide Ogun, reinforced the need for Africa to look inwards for funding solutions. “Africa is not poor; Africa’s resources are simply underutilized.

We have nearly $1 trillion in pension funds, yet less than 1.5% is invested in infrastructure. If we strategically allocate just 1% of this capital, we could unlock $10 billion in financing annually for critical projects,” he stated.

Partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, David Ziyambi, also emphasised the importance of legal and regulatory reforms. He expressed that the continent’s financial laws must be modernized to accommodate large-scale infrastructure investments, highlighting the need to create the right legal environment to make infrastructure projects more attractive to investors.

Kone-Thiam touted UBA’s commitment to Africa’s growth. While wrapping up her presentation, Kone-Thiam reiterated the need for action – for Africa to take control of its development, leverage our own resources, build investment-ready projects, and create an ecosystem of trust that will attract both local and international investors.

Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com

She emphasized that as Africa’s global bank, UBA remains dedicated to the continent’s long-term prosperity by championing sustainable financing solutions and supporting both educational and infrastructural development. The bank has been instrumental in financing major projects that stimulate economic growth and enhance living standards across the continent.

NOTE: This story received contribution from SyndiGate Media Inc.
NOTE: Jessica is on Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) at DDNEWSONLINE.COM from the Department of Mass Communication, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).