More than four years after announcing plans to establish its Central Africa regional headquarters in Cameroon, United Bank for Africa (UBA) still has no site for the project, as difficulties over land allocation and slow administrative procedures continue to delay the initiative.
The Nigerian banking group plans to build a central office in either Yaoundé or Douala to coordinate its operations across several Central African markets, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Gabon and the Republic of Congo. UBA first announced the project in February 2022, when then-chairman Tony Elumelu visited Cameroon.
The bank has since struggled to secure a suitable plot in either of the country's two main cities.
In Yaoundé, UBA had targeted a site on Boulevard du 20-Mai, opposite the Hilton Hotel. The government ultimately allocated the plot to another operator. In Douala, the bank considered land in the Bali district, but the city council subsequently took back the site.
The delays have drawn public criticism from UBA executives. CEO Oliver Alawuba and Elumelu have both raised concerns about the difficulties encountered by the bank in securing land for the headquarters.
Cameroon's Ministry of State Property is now seeking two alternative plots for the project. UBA hopes the land-selection process can be completed before the end of 2026. If a suitable site is not secured by then, the bank could reconsider the project.
The case highlights one of the practical challenges facing large regional institutions seeking to establish a physical presence in Cameroon. Securing financing and identifying a commercially attractive market are only part of the process. Access to suitable land and the ability of public institutions to complete administrative procedures can also determine how quickly a major project moves from announcement to implementation.
UBA is not the only major financial institution to have encountered difficulties in securing land for a major project in Cameroon. Afreximbank, which opened its Central Africa regional office in Yaoundé in September 2021, has also faced delays in obtaining land for the construction of its own headquarters and a medical center.
The two cases do not by themselves demonstrate a broader deterioration in Cameroon’s investment climate. They do, however, point to a specific challenge in implementing large institutional projects, particularly those that require government support for land allocation.
For Cameroon, the issue is also relevant to its ambitions to strengthen its position as a regional business and financial center. Yaoundé hosts the headquarters of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the central bank of the six CEMAC countries, while Douala remains the country's main commercial hub.
Whether UBA ultimately establishes its headquarters in Cameroon may therefore depend less on the bank's regional ambitions than on the government's ability to resolve a relatively basic prerequisite: securing a suitable site and completing the administrative process in time.
