Africa’s Global Bank, 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 2, 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 in regulatory compliance and customer service, and on strengthening financial resilience through diversified liquidity and income sources.

He will also deepen UBA’s leadership in trade, transaction, and correspondent banking to support business flows into and out of Africa.

Mishra brings 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 CEO 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, where he contributed to the expansion of the bank’s global wholesale franchise, strengthened risk management frameworks, and led 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. In recognition of his contribution to financial services, he was conferred 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.”

Alawuba explained that the appointment underscores UBA’s continued investment in building a world-class international banking franchise that supports Africa’s economic integration into the global economy.

On his part, Mishra, who expressed delight over his appointment, said, “I am honoured to join UBA at a time of significant opportunity for the Group. UBA’s unique role in connecting Africa to global markets is both compelling and strategically important.

"I look forward to working with colleagues across the Group to strengthen UBA UK’s platform and to support clients in unlocking growth across Africa and beyond.”

UBA UK plays a critical role within UBA Group’s international network, supporting African corporates, financial institutions, sovereigns and global partners through its strong capabilities in correspondent banking, trade finance, transaction banking and treasury services.