The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc,  yesterday, held the maiden  edition of its expanded Graduate Management Accelerated Programme  (GMAP)  where over 700 graduates were inducted into the UBA  Tribe  after a rigorous 6-month hands-on-work and learning experience.

A statement from the bank said the  programme  which is accredited by the  Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s (CIBN)  and  adopted from the globally recognized  Graduate Training  Programme,  is aimed at building capacity of fresh graduates who are trained as professionals for accelerated career growth to leadership and key positions.

The graduands, from across UBA’s 19 African country subsidiaries, completed  the intense capacity-building programme, combining learning  with  on-the-job training experience, garnered while rotating across the bank  departments and units.

The Chairman of UBA, Tony Elumelu, who spoke about the importance of prioritising human capital development,  commended the robust programme that churned out bright and promising professionals, poised to take the bank to another level.

He stated: “It is important to develop platforms for people to grow. We would love to see our future CEO’s from this programme and I hope that the enthusiasm, excitement, and energy I see and feel in this room today translates into the greatness we anticipate so that this young bright professionals can help take UBA to the next level.

“UBA is giving opportunities to young Africans, by addressing unemployment on the continent. Employment of these large numbers of young people at this time explains the role our Bank is playing in engineering growth and development across Africa”.

Speaking at the event,  Group Managing Director,  Oliver Alawuba said that the Bank’s future is guaranteed considering the quality of the graduands produced  and the commitment shown by participants over the course of the programme.