United Bank for Africa plans African expansion - chairman

United Bank for Africa (UBA) plans to increase its presence in Africa outside Nigeria to 25 countries from 18 now and inject capital into its subsidiaries in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, its chairman said on Tuesday.

UBA Chairman Tony Elumelu said the bank was gearing up with a view to "harnessing the potential represented by the wider African economy through its expansion plans".

"Our intention is to be the leader in African financial services," Elumelu said on the sidelines of a news conference in Lagos late on Tuesday.

UBA, one of Nigeria's largest banks with more 700 branches, has subsidiaries across Africa in countries such as Ghana and Ivory Coast in the west, Kenya and Uganda in the east and Mozambique and Zambia in the south.

It also has offices in London and New York.

The banks operations in the 18 African countries outside Nigeria now contribute more than 25 per cent to group operating revenue, Elumelu said.

Last year, UBA's pretax profit rose 22 percent from a year earlier to 68.5 billion naira while gross earnings climbed 10 percent to 315 billion.