Emmanuel Nnorom Takes Over as UBA Group Chairman

Emmanuel Nnorom New UBA Chairman

United Bank for Africa has welcomed Emmanuel Nnorom as its new Group Chairman, with the seasoned business leader and chartered accountant officially assuming the position on August 21, 2026, following the retirement of Tony Elumelu, who completed the maximum tenure permitted for non-executive directors under Central Bank of Nigeria corporate governance guidelines. 

Emmanuel Nnorom appointment was confirmed by the bank across its social media platforms on Wednesday, with UBA describing him as a professional with more than four decades of experience across banking, finance, and executive leadership — a profile built substantially within the UBA Group itself before his transition into external leadership roles and his return to the bank’s board in 2024.

Nnorom’s career inside UBA spans a range of the most senior executive positions the institution has to offer. 

He served as Group Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director across the Group Executive Office, Finance, and Risk portfolios, and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA Africa — a role in which he oversaw the bank’s operations across multiple African countries and contributed directly to the pan-African expansion that has become one of the group’s most defining institutional achievements. 

His most recent board position before becoming chairman was as a Non-Executive Director, a role he took up in 2024 after years in executive functions. 

Emmanuel Nnorom New UBA Chairman and Tony Elumelu

UBA said that with his understanding of the group’s journey and the depth of his internal experience, the Emmanuel Nnorom new UBA Group Chairman appointment came at an important moment in the institution’s continued growth across Africa and beyond.

Beyond UBA, Nnorom has held senior positions across Nigeria’s financial and corporate landscape. 

He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Transnational Corporation Plc between September 2014 and May 2017, and has been Group Chief Executive Officer of Heirs Holdings since June 2017 — placing him at the heart of the Tony Elumelu-founded conglomerate even as he maintained his connection to the UBA ecosystem. 

His earlier banking career included senior management roles at Standard Trust Bank — which later became UBA — Diamond Bank, NUB International Bank, and Liberty Merchant Bank, giving him a breadth of institutional exposure that extends well beyond any single organisation. 

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, and completed executive leadership and management programmes at Templeton College, Oxford.

For UBA, Emmanuel Nnorom as new UBA Group Chairman marks the beginning of a new governance chapter at one of Africa’s largest financial institutions. 

Tony Elumelu’s tenure as chairman shaped UBA’s identity across a critical period of continental expansion and brand-building, and his retirement under the CBN’s tenure guidelines was both expected and well-managed. 

Nnorom enters the role not as an outsider inheriting a legacy but as someone who built substantial parts of that legacy himself across years of internal leadership. 

UBA’s statement that the appointment comes at an important moment in the group’s growth signals confidence that continuity of vision and deepening of strategy will define what follows — and Nnorom’s profile suggests that both are well within reach.