UBA Group backs MOFI’s agenda for economy, says Elumelu

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group stands ready to support the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) plan to achieve Federal Government goals of addressing economic challenges and driving  economic growth.

Group Chairman, UBA Plc, Tony Elumelu disclosed this as the Guest Speaker at the  Public Wealth Management Conference organised by Ministry of Finance Incorporated in Abuja with theme: “Championing Nigeria’s Economic Posperity”.

He said that times are hard for Nigerians everywhere, hence the  need to come together and act in unison to catalyse significant socio-economic development for Nigeria and all her people.

According to him, there was need to assemble the best in the industry who possess a turnaround mindset to transform the state assets and set performance targets for them, create a high-performance environment and build culture of excellence that is entrenched in sound corporate governance processes.

Elumelu said that achieving economic growth requires that stakeholders set strategic intent, prepare the milestones, know how they will be judged, and then execute, with discipline, keeping the  strategic intent in focus.

He said: “There is no rush to see immediate profits; we must have that mindset if we are to fully unlock the value contained within these state-owned assets”.

Elumelu said that MOFI can replicate the Temasek example in Singapore, where Temasek was established with state-owned assets worth $300 million, but today those assets are now worth approximately $300 billion.

“How did this happen? In 1974, following independence from the British, the Singaporean government found itself as the owner of a variety of new state-owned enterprises. The Singaporean Government felt that it was necessary to separate governance from business management,” he said.

This, Elumelu, who is also Chairman, Heirs Holdings Group, disclosed,  stemmed from the principle that it was not the business of the government to operate the businesses it owned.

“This principle led to the establishment of Temasek in 1974 to own and manage the assets held by the Singapore Government. The arrangement allowed the government to focus on its core role of policymaking and regulations.Today, Temasek has investments in the strategic sectors of its economy to unlock significant value: Transportation, industrial, financial services, technology, telecommunications, real estate and consumer goods”.

He said that Temasek typically owns significant stakes in companies, often with a focus on strategic investments that align with Singapore’s economic development goals.

He said: “In our Group, we are known for how to turn around businesses. Our expertise is in unlocking the value in the assets we hold. And our track record speaks for itself. The turnaround of a defunct Crystal Bank birthed into Standard Trust Bank, which is now part of today’s United Bank for Africa (UBA). This was not a state-owned enterprise but the same principles for turnaround occurred here”.

He said the group had a clear vision from day one of what it wanted to achieve in the financial services industry- “We set out clear goals which we labelled our strategic intent and worked assiduously to ensure we met them”.

“Today, UBA Group operates in 20 African countries, the UK, France, the UAE and the USA. We are the only African bank with a deposit taking license in the USA,” Elumelu said.

He also spoke about  Heirs Holdings Group, his family’s investment firm which acquired Transcorp Plc.

“At the time, Transcorp was formed to lead the industrialisation of Nigeria.The only asset Transcorp Group had back then was this hotel in which we are all gathered today. Today, Transcorp plays in the hospitality, power (both in generation and distribution) and in the oil & gas sectors”.

In Power, the group acquired the 972MW gas-fired Ughelli Power Plant and ramped up its generations from 160MW to 701MW within four years of taking over the plant.  The Ughelli Power Plant is the first privatized power company to be discharged from post- privatization monitoring having surpassed all set targets by the BPE and the National Council on Privatisation.

“We have partnered with the FG to unlock the value of state-owned enterprises and we have shown how private sector efficiency translates into profitability and increased prosperity.”

“In our group, we are guided by the philosophy of Africapitalism, investing for the long-term, not the short-term, in strategic sectors of the economy that not only create profit but also create social wealth for the communities we operate in. It is the philosophy that drives our business, but it is also what drives the Tony Elumelu Foundation – why I have catalysed thousands of young entrepreneurs across Africa – why we have funded, trained and mentored them, to create a new generation fo Africapitalists,” Elumelu said.