Senegal Business News

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Appoints Phillips Oduoza as MD/CEO Designate

Phillips Oduoza, MD/CEO Designate, United Bank for Africa (UBA)

Phillips Oduoza, MD/CEO Designate, United Bank for Africa (UBA)

The Board of United Bank for Africa Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Phillips Oduoza as Group Chief Executive Designate of UBA.

Phillips Oduoza has over 22 years experience in Banking and Financial Services spanning Banking Operations, Relationship Management, Credit/Marketing, Technology Implementation, Risk Management, Lean Banking Methods, and Brand Management.

Prior to this appointment, Phillips Oduoza was the Bank’s Deputy Managing Director overseeing its operations in the South, which is the UBA Group’s largest strategic business group.

He will commence as the Group Chief Executive of the Bank on August 1, 2010. In the interim, Mr Oduoza will work in tandem with Mr. Tony Elumelu, current Group Chief Executive of UBA to ensure that the transition is seamless. Read the rest of this entry »

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United Bank for Africa (UBA) Opens in Zambia – First Southern African Market Entry

United Bank for AfricaUnited Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), the pan African banking group, has announced the opening of its Zambian operations – the first Southern African business unit for the group. The establishment of a full banking presence in Zambia further emphasizes the group’s vision of bringing world class banking services to all regions of sub-Saharan Africa and follows its successful openings in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

UBA has over the past year rapidly expanded its network, positioning itself as the bank of choice for wholesale and retail clients in Africa and for Africa-related businesses, demonstrating in action its positioning as “Africa’s Global Bank”. This physical expansion has been matched by the launch of a series of products designed specifically to address the key needs of African clients, whether individuals, companies, or governments, in facilitating money transfer and cash management, trade finance, and access to credit. Read the rest of this entry »

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Nigerian-Owned Main One Cable Will Land in Five Places in Africa; Mainstreet Technologies Makes Alliance with Tata for European Connections

Main One Cable

Main One Cable

Nigerian-owned Mainstreet Technologies said this week that the Main One Cable is on schedule to be operational by June 2010 and that the building of landing stations has started in Ghana, Nigeria and Portugal.

Also, there will be three other landing station points in Africa with landing station partners to be announced in 2010.

In early September, Globacom announced that the much-delayed Glo-1 cable had landed in Lagos.

The telecommunications industry in Nigeria has practically given up on Glo-1, given that the cable is not yet able to provide access to its potential customers.

Meanwhile Main One seems to be making steady progress in becoming the second competitive cable in West Africa by June 2010.

According to Main One’s Commercial Director Bernard Logan, it is “80% through production” of the fibre, has “started its first lay in Ghana” and is building three landing stations in Ghana, Nigeria, and Portugal. Read the rest of this entry »

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Globacom Says that Glo-1 Cable has Landed in Lagos

GlobacomGlobacom announced last weekend that its long-delayed Glo-1 cable has landed in Lagos, Nigeria. Globacom’s Group Executive Director, Paddy Adenuga, said in a statement to mark the landing of the cable that Glo-1 “will stimulate a new era of prosperity in the continent by offering cheap, fast, and reliable international calls, unprecedented fast access to the internet and revolutionary data transfer”.

Paddy Adenuga said the cumulative effect of the huge bandwidth and cheaper rates Glo-1 would bring to the continent “will empower Africans in the field of communications, education, agriculture, banking, and health”. The Glo-1 cable will have a capacity of 640 gigabits per second and an ultimate capacity of 2.5 terabits per second. Read the rest of this entry »

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Doing Business in Africa Getting Easier, says World Bank/International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Doing Business 2009Botswana led a record year for African reformers making it easier to do business, with 28 countries completing 58 improvements

Botswana was one of the world’s top three reformers of business regulations, according to “Doing Business 2009″, an annual report published by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Ghana was judged the best place to do business in West Africa for the second year in a row. Senegal has made it easier to start a business, register property, and trade across borders.

Burkina Faso introduced a new labor code and reforms for registering property, dealing with construction permits, and paying taxes. Botswana has cut the time to start a business, facilitated trade, and strengthened investor protections. Read the rest of this entry »

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