Activity highlighting the exit of Mr. Philips Oduoza as the Group Managing Director of pan-African banking group, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has begun.

A valedictory lecture to mark his meritorious service was put together by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), with a topic, ‘The Emergence of a Nigerian Pan-African Bank,’ to a parked bankers and financial industry players.

Oduoza used the lecture to share his experience and challenges in helping build one of Africa’s largest banking groups, not forgetting the lessons learnt from the bank’s expansion into Africa.

He spoke extensively on UBA’s expansion into Africa, reasons for the expansion and the strategies adopted to derive maximum value and reduce the risks of UBA’s foray into different African countries.

He listed lack of the required infrastructure and policies as the major challenges to intra-Africa trade, while noting that the adoption of policies, like tax holidays, waivers and market interventions to promote investments in sectors outside commodities would help diversify African economies and drive intra-African trade.

He stated: “I strongly feel African Central Banks have a greater role to play by collaborating to promote the development of cross-border trade platforms to encourage the informal sector to join the formal banking system.

“When this is done, the opportunity will be readily captured by Pan-African banks.”

He added: “Intra-African trade growth will be further supported by the introduction of a visa-free travel policy across the continent by the African Union (AU), as well as the development of intra-regional transport infrastructure.”

Oduoza harped on the need for improved financial inclusion on the continent, noting that research has shown that only 34 per cent of African adults have a bank account as at 2014.