Tony Elumelu Welcomes 720 New UBA Bankers: 300 Staff Finally Land Full-Time Jobs!
Nigerian business leader, Tony Elumelu, has celebrated a new wave of young banking professionals joining United Bank for Africa, after engaging with hundreds of trainees from the bank’s flagship development programme.
Elumelu revealed that he recently addressed 720 graduate trainees drawn from Cohorts 19 and 20 of UBA’s Graduate Management Acceleration Programme (GMAP), a pan-African initiative designed to groom the next generation of financial leaders.
Speaking about the programme’s impact, the billionaire investor noted that since the management trainee scheme was launched in 2022, UBA has already trained more than 3,900 young professionals in banking and finance across several African countries. The initiative, he said, reflects the bank’s long-standing commitment to nurturing African talent and preparing young people for leadership in the financial sector.
One of the most memorable moments of his interaction with the trainees, according to Elumelu, was discovering that about 300 of the participants had previously worked within the UBA ecosystem as contract staff. Many of them, he revealed, are now being formally absorbed into the bank as full-time employees, marking a significant milestone in their professional journeys.
He praised Oliver Alawuba, Group Managing Director of UBA, and the bank’s Group Head of Human Resources, Modupe Akindele, for helping to make the career aspirations of these young Africans a reality.
Elumelu stressed that creating opportunities for young people is not just philanthropy but also smart economic thinking. According to him, investing in youth development is a form of “enlightened self-interest,” as Africa’s future prosperity depends on empowering its next generation.
He warned that failing to provide employment opportunities for young Africans would amount to abandoning an entire generation, adding that institutions must take deliberate steps to nurture and support their own talent.
Reflecting on the journey of the trainees, Elumelu commended them for their perseverance and dedication. He noted that many of them chose UBA early in their careers, worked consistently, served customers diligently, upheld the bank’s culture of integrity, and remained resilient despite challenges.
Now, he said, their patience and hard work have paid off.
Welcoming the new intakes into the bank’s growing workforce, Elumelu urged them to embrace the responsibility ahead and play their part in shaping the continent’s future.
“Welcome to the UBA family,” he told the trainees, encouraging them to work together toward a shared vision of transforming Africa.
