United Bank for Africa (UBA) UK has hired John Fussell as financial institutions (FI) relationship manager – a newly created role for the bank.

Fussell joins from BACB where his role was director, head of Anglophone Africa, responsible for the Anglophone markets in West and East Africa. He has previously also worked at FCMB UK, Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) and The Access Bank UK.

Fussell’s mandate at UBA UK will be to build and grow the bank’s pan-African financial institutions business, as well as its relationships with FIs across the continent. He remains based in London and reports to the CEO, Patrick Gutmann.

Commenting on the appointment, Gutmann tells GTR: “We are delighted to welcome John to UBA UK with his vast African FI experience and knowledge, and with his strong network across the continent. With UBA’s large pan-African footprint and with UBA UK playing a key role as one of the international hubs for the group, John will be able to add tremendous value by helping facilitate trade and capital markets flows between the bank’s UK and European client base with its clients and partners across the African continent.”

UBA UK is the London-headquartered subsidiary of the pan-African banking group UBA, and was formally launched in Q1 2019.

Although the bank had been present in London for a number of years as UBA Capital (Europe), the rebrand marked a new chapter for the group, with UBA UK having received its wholesale banking licence the year before.

The bank offers treasury services, cash management, correspondent banking, corporate lending and wholesale deposit products.

Its trade finance department, which is headed up by Shaheen Butt, who joined the bank in 2017, offers all aspects of structured and trade finance.