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UBA Nigeria Seeks Local License In Zambia To Meet Country’s Recapitalization Rules

By on July 18, 2012

United Bank for Africa Plc, Nigeria’s fourth-biggest lender by market value, will seek a local banking license in Zambia to meet the country’s new capital requirements, Managing Director Phillips Oduoza said.

“We intend to convert our license from that of an international bank,” Oduoza told a conference call today from Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. “What we have done is to engage the regulators.”

The southern African country in January raised the minimum capital requirement for international banks to $100 million from $2.5 million and to $20 million for local banks.

UBA expects its African operations outside Nigeria to contribute about 25 percent of earnings by end of the year, up from 19 percent in the first quarter and 22 percent in the second three months, Oduoza said.

UBA closed 3.2 percent lower at 4.60 naira in Lagos, paring its gains this year to 81 percent. The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index has risen 12 percent over the same period.