Pan-African financial services group, United Bank for Africa Plc repeated the outstanding feat, it recorded last year at the 2nd edition of Nigeria CFO awards, with a notch higher when its Group Chief Finance Officer (Group CFO) and the Finance Team bagged the treble at the awards night held on November 19, 2016 at Oriental Hotel, Lekki Lagos. The bank won the following awards; CFO of the Year; Financial Innovation Project of the Year and Finance Team of the Year.

Ugo Nwaghodoh, UBA’s Group Chief Finance Officer was ahead of other nominees in the banking category, to emerge CFO of the year.

The Finance team of the year was also given to the finance division of UBA for their exceptional performance in the year under review, which the organiser say resulted in the bank emerging as one of the resilient performers in the Nigerian banking industry, despite the economic downturn.

Receiving the awards, UBA’s Group CFO, flanked by some of his colleagues, thanked the organisers for the recognition which is coming, second time in a row, noting that he couldn’t have done it alone and that he is delighted to be working with the best finance team in the Nigerian banking industry. He dedicated the awards to his team who he said work assiduously with the passion to always exceed expectations. Achieving a feat like this at a challenging period, only indicates that hard work and dedication truly pays. We are further encouraged by these awards but speaking the minds of my colleagues, this presents new challenges to us, as we will intensify our commitment towards setting benchmarks for the industry, particularly in our strategic roles beyond financial reporting and performance management, Nwaghodoh said.

Also speaking at the awards night, the Chief Executive Officer of Instinct Business magazine, Organisers of the CFO awards, Akin Naphtal, explained that CFOs are integral to the successes of organisations as their expansive financial perspectives help fuel growth. “That is why we believe the achievements of financial executives who have been outstanding in their profession and have contributed in no small measure to the growth of their organisations and the economy at large, must be recognised and celebrated,” he said.

The awards nights was a colorful gathering of CFOs from different industries, including, banking, Insurance, Telecoms, Pharmaceuticals, Construction, Investment Banking, Media Broadcast, Conglomerate, Logistics & Transport, and Public sector across Nigeria with many lauding the organisers for the rare initiative.

Mr Nwaghodoh, UBA’s Group CFO, is a seasoned financial analyst and accountant with over two decades experience spanning assurance, advisory, financial control, strategy and business transformation, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, business integration and project management. Prior to his appointment as Group Chief Finance Officer of UBA, he was at different times, Group Financial Controller, Group Chief Compliance Officer and Head – Performance Management in UBA. Before joining UBA in 2004, he had almost one decade experience with Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, both in Nigeria and Kenya.

He holds a BSc degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and an MSc degree in Finance and Management from Cranfield University, England. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and Institute of Credit Administration. He is also an Honorary Senior Member (HCIB) of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), and a member of Cranfield Management Association.

In his capacity as GCFO, the Bank has sustained robust level of growth by consistently recording significant and enviable financial performance.

•Photo shows, L-R; Mr. Valentine Akue, Chief Finance Officer, UBA Burkina Faso, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, Financial Controller, UBA Plc, Mr. Ugo Nwaghodoh, Group Chief Finance Officer, UBA Plc , Mr. Akin Naphtal, Publisher Instinct Business/Organiser Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Award and Mr. Kunle Oyewole, Chief Finance Officer, UBA Sierra Leone at the 2nd edition of the CFO awards where UBA won the CFO of the year; Financial Innovation Project of the year and Finance Team of the year awards, in Lagos on Saturday.

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