Nigerian banker and one of Africa’s most powerful businesspeople, Tony Elumelu, is set to receive N1.9 billion ($4.6 million) in final dividends from his stake in United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA).
UBA is a Nigerian-based pan-African financial services group with operations in 20 African countries, as well as the UK, United States, and France.
The bank is one of Nigeria’s major lenders, with a total asset base of N8.54 trillion ($20.43 billion) by the end of 2021.
Elumelu, who owns 6.39 percent of the company, derives a total wealth of $44.6 billion (N18.3 billion) from his stake in the pan-African bank.
The dividend that he is set to receive will be paid from the bank’s retained earnings of about N335.84 billion ($808.7 million) as part of the cash distribution approved by the board of directors.
At the end of 2021, the bank’s profit grew 8.7 percent from N109.16 billion ($260.9 million) in 2020 to N118.68 billion ($283.6 million) in 2021, as the group continues to benefit from a sustained increase in gross earnings due to its pan-African business diversification.
The bank’s gross loans and customer deposits increased from N2.63 trillion ($6.28 billion) and N6.09 trillion ($14.55 billion) in 2020 to N2.83 trillion ($6.76 billion) and N7.02 trillion ($16.77 billion), respectively, buoyed by momentum from the steady recovery in economic activity.
UBA’s assets climbed by 11 percent, growing from N7.69 trillion ($18.4 billion) in 2020 to N8.54 trillion ($20.43 billion) in 2021, owing mostly to the increase in customer deposits, while shareholder funds rose by 12 percent to N776.17 billion ($1.85 billion), driven by the increase in earnings.
Its resilient financial performance at the end of 2021 made the directors propose a final dividend of N0.80 ($0.00191) per share.
According to the board’s decision, Elumelu will receive N1.9 billion ($4.6 million) in dividends from his stake in the financial services group.