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United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has spotlighted the need for collaboration and advanced technology in the fight against financial fraud, during its annual Fraud Awareness Week themed “Combating Fraud Risk and Cyber Theft in Digital Banking.”
The hybrid session, held at UBA’s Lagos Head Office on Friday, brought together regulators, financial experts, cybersecurity professionals, and stakeholders from across Africa. The event forms part of the bank’s week-long campaign to raise awareness and strengthen defenses against fraud in the digital banking space.
Welcoming participants, UBA Group Managing Director/CEO, Oliver Alawuba, described the initiative as “one of Africa’s biggest and most influential anti-fraud campaigns.” He added, “Over the past few years, we have reinforced a simple truth: fraud prevention is not an event; it is a culture and a collective responsibility; and what began in 2023 as a visionary initiative of the UBA team has now grown into a continent-wide movement, one that strengthens trust, protects customers, and fortifies the integrity of digital banking across Africa.”
Alawuba further noted that the week-long campaign had deepened the bank’s capacity to “detect, deter, and defeat fraud at every customer touchpoint.”
Delivering the keynote address, Godwin Oyedokun, a multidisciplinary scholar-practitioner, emphasised the need for a proactive approach to fraud. “We need to focus on a strategic imperative that will shift us from detection to prevention, so do not allow fraudulent activities to beat your processes. Make fraudulent activities less attractive. When you prevent it, no matter how much you spend on it, it is still better than spending money to detect and restore it,” he said.
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UBA’s Group Chief Internal Auditor, Kayode Ajayi, highlighted the bank’s progressive approach to fraud prevention, including continuous system upgrades, AI-driven transaction monitoring, and 24/7 cybersecurity surveillance across its African and global operations.
Other panellists included Adebayo Adebeshin, Bright Anyanwu, and Fiyinfolu Okedare, with Sheri Adegbenro, Chief Audit & Compliance Officer at Eko Electricity Distribution Plc, moderating the session.
Participants, including representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the National Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), commended UBA for driving fraud education and promoting open conversations around digital safety. They stressed the need for stronger industry collaboration, upgraded defenses, and continuous technology investment to counter the evolving threats in digital banking.
UBA, one of Africa’s largest employers with 25,000 staff, serves over 45 million customers across 20 African countries and key global markets, providing retail, commercial, and institutional banking services while leading financial inclusion initiatives and implementing cutting-edge technology.
