United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has graduated 374 young professionals from its Graduate Management Accelerator Programme (GMAP), strengthening its talent pipeline as the financial institution prepares a new generation of bankers for leadership roles across its African operations.

The latest cohort, the 21st since the programme began, comprises 223 women and 151 men drawn from eight African countries where UBA operates.

While 345 of the graduates are from UBA Nigeria, the remaining 29 are from the bank’s subsidiaries in Guinea, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire.

The development brings the number of young professionals trained through the GMAP to more than 5,000, underscoring the bank’s focus on developing talent through structured training, mentorship and hands-on experience.

UBA Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, said customer service would remain a key differentiator for the bank as technology continues to make financial products increasingly similar across the industry.

He said while technology could make banking products easier to replicate, the quality of service and how technology was deployed to improve customers’ experience would remain difficult to copy.

“Products can be commoditised, but service never can, because there is always a differentiator in how you serve and how you create,” Elumelu said.

He added: “As everyone leverages technology, the differentiator becomes how that technology is used to make our customers happy.”

Elumelu also expressed confidence in the new graduates as future leaders of the institution, urging them to preserve their passion while embracing hard work, discipline and excellence throughout their careers.

“As future leaders of UBA, people like you give me confidence that if we hand over to your generation, UBA will be safe,” he said.

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, described the graduates’ certificates as a commissioning rather than the end of their training, urging them to uphold the bank’s standards wherever they are posted.

“You came from different countries, with different experiences and disciplines, but today you have graduated as one UBA family, united by one ambition, to build Africa’s future,” Alawuba said.

He advised the graduates to make the most of every assignment, regardless of whether it matched their preferred career path.

“Your first posting may not be your preferred destination, but make it your platform and give it your best. No assignment is too small to reveal a great attitude, and no role is too modest for excellence,” he said.

Alawuba further challenged the young professionals to keep learning as the business environment changes, protect their integrity and turn their potential into measurable.