UBA ATTAINS GLOBAL QUALITY STANDARDS BENCHMARK; RECEIVE ISO 9001:2000 CERTIFICATION

Apr 08 2008

In recognition of its uncompromising adherence to best practices, quality standards in the conduct of its businesses and having successfully scaled the stringent audit of its systems and processed, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc was yesterday formally awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certificate which was presented by the Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Dr. John Akanya in a brief ceremony at the bank’s corporate headquarters in Lagos.

UBA voluntarily opened up its systems and processes for audit by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, given the rapidly expanding nature of its businesses locally and internationally and the bank’s imperative to achieve, rigorous global standards of governance and service delivery.

The ISO 9001:2000 Standard, is an internationally recognised certification of Quality Management System (QMS), which defines the way that an organisation should direct and control its business activities, systems and processes. It has been used globally by banks & financial institutions and other companies in service as well as manufacturing sectors, to ensure that their processes and procedures comply with globally accepted standards of excellence.

Commenting on the certification, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of UBA Group, Mr. Tony Elumelu described the feat as a major landmark in the bank’s quest to continually delight customers across all segments of the market. He said the ISO 9001 certification means several things for UBA as a brand. “First, it represents an internal commitment, not only to the international ISO standard, but also the standards which we have defined for ourselves, to ensure a continued focus on customer service, consistency in quality of products and service delivery. Secondly, it embodies our desire to be measured and monitored for continuous improvement both internally and by our customers”.

The process of obtaining ISO 9001 certification by UBA was painstaking, requiring two major audit exercises by the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), the member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), responsible for accrediting and certifying organizations to ISO standards in Nigeria. An initial pre-assessment audit exercise was conducted at the Head Office and business offices randomly selected by SON in October 2007, whilst the final audit leading to the certification was conducted in February this year.