- UBA Ghana Appoints Akeju Ahmed Gbenga as Country Chief Inspector
United Bank for Africa Ghana Ltd has appointed Akeju Ahmed Gbenga as Country Chief Inspector, strengthening its internal audit and governance architecture at a time when banks across the region are under increasing pressure to demonstrate stronger risk management, regulatory compliance and control discipline.
Gbenga brings more than 20 years of experience spanning internal audit, accounting, banking operations, risk assessment, regulatory compliance and internal controls, much of it built within the UBA Group. His long association with the institution gives him both operational familiarity and cross-market exposure across several African banking environments.
Prior to his appointment in Ghana, he served as Team Lead, Head Office Audit at UBA Plc in Nigeria, a role he had held since August 2021. His responsibilities covered some of the bank’s most sensitive control areas, including Group Treasury, Trade and Treasury Operations, Financial Control, Compliance, Credit Risk, Corporate Governance, Market and Operational Risk, as well as Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
That experience is particularly relevant to a commercial bank operating in a tightly regulated environment where supervisory expectations increasingly extend beyond capital and liquidity to governance quality, operational resilience, financial reporting, conduct risk and the effectiveness of internal controls.
For UBA Ghana, the appointment therefore goes beyond filling a senior audit position. The Country Chief Inspector sits at the centre of the bank’s assurance framework, providing independent oversight over whether business units operate within approved policies, regulatory requirements and the wider risk appetite of the institution.
Gbenga’s strongest advantage may be his extensive cross-border experience.
Between January 2011 and July 2021, he served as Team Lead, Audit, UBA Rest of Africa, participating in the audit of subsidiaries across 19 African countries, including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
That role exposed him to a wide range of regulatory regimes, operating models and risk environments across the continent. His work included assessments of internal controls, process audits, credit reviews, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, treasury operations and wider risk management, alongside engagements with regulators and external auditors.
In practical terms, that means UBA Ghana is bringing in an executive who has already worked across the Group’s broader African network and is familiar with how governance weaknesses can emerge across different markets.
Bernard Gyebi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA Ghana, said Gbenga’s appointment would strengthen the bank’s control environment and support its long-term resilience.
“Gbenga brings to UBA Ghana a wealth of experience built over two decades across audit, operations, risk, governance, and regulatory compliance,” Mr Gyebi said. “Importantly, his extensive experience across UBA’s African operations gives him a strong understanding of our business, our control environment, and the markets in which we operate.”
Mr Gyebi added that effective internal controls are fundamental to the sustainability of a financial institution.
“Strong governance and effective internal controls are fundamental to building a sustainable financial institution. We are confident that Gbenga’s leadership will further strengthen our internal audit function, support disciplined risk management and contribute to the continued growth and resilience of UBA Ghana.”
The emphasis on internal controls is important because modern banking risk increasingly extends beyond traditional credit losses.
Banks must manage cyber threats, operational failures, anti-money laundering obligations, treasury exposures, data integrity, financial reporting, third-party risks and increasingly complex regulatory requirements. A strong audit function therefore acts as an internal defence mechanism, testing whether systems and processes are working as intended before weaknesses become financial or reputational problems.
Gbenga also brings experience from the operational side of banking, having served as Head of Operations, Financial Institution Unit at UBA Plc from 2008 to 2010 after earlier working in Branch Operations from 2004.
That operational background gives him an understanding not only of how controls are designed, but also of how they function within day-to-day banking processes.
He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. He is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria and an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management. He holds an MBA from Lagos State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Ogun State University, now Olabisi Onabanjo University.
UBA Ghana said the appointment forms part of its commitment to maintaining high standards of corporate governance, risk management, regulatory compliance and operational excellence as it continues to expand its business in Ghana.
For the bank, the strategic value of the appointment will ultimately be measured by whether stronger audit oversight translates into better risk discipline, more reliable controls and greater confidence among regulators, customers and counterparties.
In an industry where trust is built as much on control systems as on balance-sheet strength, the appointment of a seasoned cross-border auditor places governance firmly at the centre of UBA Ghana’s next phase of growth.
