• UBA UK CEO Loknath Mishra

United Bank for Africa (UBA), has announced the appointment of Loknath Mishra as Chief Executive Officer of UBA UK.

The appointment, which takes effect from February 2nd, 2026, reinforces the Group’s commitment to strengthening its international footprint and enhancing its role as a key financial bridge between Africa and the world.

As CEO of UBA UK, Mishra will focus on positioning the UK subsidiary as a centre of excellence for regulatory compliance and customer service, strengthening financial resilience through diversified liquidity and income sources, as well as deepening UBA’s leadership in trade, transaction, and correspondent banking in support of business flows in and out of Africa.

Mishra brings with him several decades of international banking experience across retail, corporate, investment and transaction banking, with a distinguished track record of building and leading regulated banking platforms in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Before joining UBA UK, Mishra served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Bank UK, where he played a central role in strengthening the bank’s presence across the UK and European markets, while significantly enhancing governance, regulatory engagement, and operational resilience.

He also held other senior leadership roles at ICICI Bank Limited, including Group Head of Wholesale Banking and Global Head of Transaction Banking, contributing to the expansion of the bank’s global wholesale franchise, strengthening risk management frameworks, and leading customer-centric transformation initiatives across corporate, institutional and financial institution segments.

Mishra is widely recognised for his leadership in complex regulatory environments and for driving digital innovation across trade finance, cash management and retail banking, and in recognition of his contribution to financial services, he was conferred with the Freedom of the City of London.

Commenting on the appointment, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, said, “Loknath brings an exceptional combination of global banking experience, regulatory credibility and deep expertise in wholesale and transaction banking.

His leadership will be instrumental in advancing UBA UK’s role as a flagship subsidiary for the Group and in strengthening our capacity to support trade and investment flows between Africa and international markets.”

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Tuesday made a publication presentation of alcohol consumptions survey.

This is in response to the MAN , NECA, FOBTOB, among other industrial stakeholders querying its recent ban on sachets alcohol in packet sizes and PET bottles.

NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said during the presentation of the survey reports that the study was conducted in collaboration with the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria and carried out by Research and Data Solutions Ltd, Abuja, surveyed 1,788 respondents across six states between June and August 2021.

“Rivers and Lagos State lead in the consumption of alcoholic drinks sold in sachets and Polyethylene Terephthalate bottles among minors and underage persons” , she said.

The agency said that the report examined access to alcohol and drinking frequency among minors (below 13 years), underage (13–17 years), and adults (18 years and above).”

Alcohol remains “one of the most widely used substances of abuse among youths” and noted that “the availability and easy access to alcohol have been identified as a contributory factor to the increasing alcohol consumption among minors.”

54.3 per cent of minors and underage respondents obtained alcohol by themselves.

Nearly half (49.9 per cent) purchased drinks in sachets or PET bottles, with Rivers State recording the highest rates — 68.0 percent for sachets and 64.5 percent for PET bottles.

Lagos followed with 52.3 percent and 47.7 percent, respectively, while Kaduna recorded 38.6 percent sachet and 28.4 percent PET bottle consumption.

“The proportion of drinks procured in sachets was higher among males (51.4 percent) compared to females (41.5 percent), and more in rural (50.1 percent) compared to urban (45.3 percent) locations.”

The report also revealed that minors and underage respondents also accessed alcohol from friends and relatives (49.9 percent), social gatherings (45.9 per cent), and parents’ homes (21.7 per cent).

It said that among those who bought alcohol themselves, 47.2 percent of minors and 48.8 percent of underaged respondents procured drinks in sachets, while 41.2 percent of minors and 47.2 percent of the underaged bought PET bottles.

On consumption frequency, 63.2 percent of minors and 54.0 percent of underage persons were occasional drinkers, but 9.3 percent of minors and 25.2 percent of underages respondent reported drinking daily.

The report urged stricter regulation, noting that “access to alcohol by children can be limited if pack sizes that can be easily concealed are not available.”

• VP Shettima

The Federal Government, through the Office of the Vice President, has launched a nationwide training program to educate 10 million Nigerians on financial inclusion and literacy.

The training being implemented through the Presidential Committee on Economic & Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, is designed to equip Nigerians, particularly women and youths, with essential financial skills, investment knowledge, and digital competencies for sustainable wealth creation.

The Office of the Vice President, through the PreCEFI, on Monday, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN); Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS); National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA); Chartered Risk Management Institute (CRMI) and Nigeria Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NIIE.

They are to jointly design training programmes, certification pathways, digital skills initiatives, and mentorship platforms that would strengthen Nigeria’s financial and enterprise workforce.

Vice President Shettima, commented: “The training is a strategic national investment in capacity as infrastructure which is the human, institutional, and ethical foundations upon which inclusive growth must rest.

Shettima noted that the Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion, which the PreCEFI is mandated to implement, recognises the fact that “financial inclusion is not achieved by access alone, but by competence, trust, and capability.”

Shettima noted that the nation “cannot build a one-trillion-dollar economy on weak skills, fragmented standards, or disconnected professional ecosystems.

VP Shettima pointed out that while capacity building is financial inclusion, “without accountants who understand MSME formalisation, credit administrators who can assess risk beyond collateral, bankers who embed consumer protection, risk professionals who anticipate digital threats, and innovators who translate ideas into enterprises, inclusion remains a slogan rather than a system.”

Maintaining that the training programme must prioritise young Nigerians and women, the VP said,

“Importantly, this collaboration prioritises women and youth inclusion and digital transformation, recognising that Nigeria’s demographic dividend will only materialise if young people are equipped with relevant skills and ethical grounding for a fast-evolving digital economy.”

He charged the PreCEFI and the professional bodies not to treat the MoU as a mere document, but as a living platform for execution.

Earlier, the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mallam Haruna Nma Yahaya, applauded the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for its bold economic reforms that has culminated in the flag off of the financial inclusion free training programme for 10 million women and youths in Nigeria.

He said the decision to embark on the project was prompted by visible improvements in the economy as a result of the gains of the Federal Government’s policy reforms.

Yahaya assured the Vice President of their professional support in the realisation of set objectives, describing their involvement in the project as an institutional honour.

The CEO of WAWU Africa – technical partners in the programme, Mr Emmanuel Lennox, assured of the company’s readiness to deliver on the project, particularly in providing the digital platform and overall enabling environment for its success.

The Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, emphasised why the training of 10 million Nigerians on financial inclusion had become necessary.

“Exclusion is not only by lack of access, but by limited skills, weak institutional capacity, and insufficient professional support.

Consequently, financial inclusion is not achieved by infrastructure alone; it is achieved when people and institutions are equipped to use that infrastructure responsibly, productively, and sustainably,” he said

The high point of the event was the signing of the MoU for the capacity building programme by the Federal Government and the six professional bodies.