Africa’s global bank, United Bank for Africa, has lit up the UBA Foundation gardens in Lagos, where the bank is located, to celebrate the start of the festive season and to continue to give back to the underprivileged in the communities where they operate.

Mr Kennedy Uzoka, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, who was joined by other key management workers and some bank clients, turned on the garden lights.

Uzoka, who is also the chairman of the UBA Foundation, emphasized that the UBA Foundation’s fundamental principle is giving back.

He said, “We have over the years, engaged in various activities aimed at appreciating our host communities all around Africa and especially in countries where we operate and so for us, these lights symbolise hope for the future and all the goodness it will bring into people’s lives.

“It is hard to believe that we have been in this pandemic for almost two years. People have lost friends and family members and businesses decimated by the effects of the pandemic. There has been a general feeling of hopelessness but our desire is to fill people’s lives with hope once again”.

The UBA Foundation has been particularly active in combating the spread of Covid -19 across Africa, as the bank wasted no time in providing over $14 million to its communities across Africa at the onset of the pandemic to support the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic.

Group Head, Customer Fulfilment Centre(CFC), United Bank for Africa Plc, Prince Ayewoh; Group Head, Personal Banking and Retail Liabilities, Ogechi Altraide; Deputy Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba; Group Managing Director/CEO, United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; Executive Director, Chiugo Ndubisi; UBA Foundation, Bola Atta; Head, Commercial and Corporate Banking, Muyiwa Akinyemi; and Head of Operations, Alex Alozie, at the 2021 Christmas and New Year Light-Up Ceremony of UBA Foundation, Garden, by UBA Foundation at Marina, Lagos on Friday.

This year, the Foundation will feed tens of thousands of people across Africa through its annual Food Bank project, where it distributes food, hygiene goods, and other presents to those in need, particularly during the holiday season.

The CEO, UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, also said that the light-up ceremony was important for the Foundation adding: “This goes beyond lighting up the Marina and adorning the streets with beautiful colours. It reminds us as an institution of our promise to continue to touch lives and treat our communities with kindness. We are living in very difficult times and a little gesture to put a smile on even one face goes a very long way. We should all endeavour to do whatever we can, within our power, to uplift others.

The Lighting Ceremony, which followed all essential Covid-19 standards and included Christmas carols performed by UBA’s CFC choir as well as a guided tour of the stunning UBA Foundation Garden at the Lagos Marina, was witnessed by workers and customers.

The UBA Foundation, the bank’s CSR arm, is dedicated to the socio-economic development of the communities in which it operates, with an emphasis on Education, the Environment, Economic Empowerment, and other Special Projects.

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