Chief Executive Officer Africa 1, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Chioma Mang, and UBA’s Group Chief Experience Officer, Michelle Nwoga, were among the most celebrated figures at the 2026 Guardian Woman Festival, receiving the coveted Special Recognition Awards in honour of their transformative leadership and contributions to banking, customer experience, and corporate impact across Africa.

The two UBA leaders were honoured during the Festival’s closing ceremony of the Guardian ‘Seven Women Wonder’ category, which drew together leaders from business, philanthropy and civil society to celebrate women driving meaningful change.

Their recognition continues to underscore UBA’s commitment to advancing female leadership at the highest levels of finance and service excellence on the continent.

Receiving the award, Chioma Mang and Michelle Nwoga spoke on how UBA is passionate about women’s growth and how it consistently creates platforms for women to lead, innovate and shape the future of African banking. Chioma Mang said: “ I share this honour with every woman around the world, women in banking and finance and especially women at UBA, working tirelessly to reshape Africa’s financial landscape.”  Michelle Nwoga added, “This award underscores what happens when women lead with empathy and execution. True customer experience begins with believing in the people you serve, and the outcome easily is excellence.”

Other winners at the Women’s Festival were the awardees of the Seven Wonder Women category: CEO, FSDH Merchant Bank, Bukola Smith; President, Nigerian Institute of Architects, Mobolaji Adeniyi; Broadcaster, Debby Odutayo; Executive Director, Polo Luxury, Jennifer Obayuwana; Head of Sustainability and ESG, NSIA, Nana Maidugi; Founder, Female Techpreneur Founders Lounge, Bukola Moyo Babajide; and Chief Executive Officer, Wakanow, Adenike Macaulay.

The Guardian Woman Festival’s 2026 edition concluded a month-long celebration of impact, leadership and purpose, bringing its closing spotlight onto collective social action by honouring charities and supportive organisations whose work continues to reshape communities across Nigeria and beyond.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Co-convener Anita Athena Ibru explained the Festival’s deliberate shift toward recognising institutions alongside individuals

 “It is important to recognise these teams of women quietly working behind the scenes. This serves as a reminder that when women get together, no matter their position, be it at the executive or volunteer level, if they stay aligned with purpose, great things can happen. We are bringing to light the fact that women are often the key drivers behind charitable causes and advocates for social change.”

This year’s edition expanded its recognition framework to amplify the often-unseen work of organised female-led philanthropy. The recognised philanthropies were: Small World, Child Advocacy Health Initiative, Global Survivors Fund, Mama’s Breakfast Club, and ARA NINI Health.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO” or the “Group”) has announced the launch of “Take on Squad” Hackathon 3.0, reaffirming its commitment to fostering innovation, empowering talent, and supporting the development of technology-driven solutions that address real-world challenges across Africa.

Now in its third edition, the Hackathon brings together developers, designers, and entrepreneurs across Nigeria in a collaborative environment to build practical solutions across key sectors, including financial services, healthcare, commerce, and digital inclusion. Under the theme “Smart Systems: The Intelligent Economy,” participants are challenged to design and build intelligent, data-driven solutions that transform how communities engage with money.

Applications are now open, and interested teams can find full guidelines and registration details on the official portal at https://squadco.com/hackathon.

Speaking on the initiative, Eduophon Japhet, Managing Director of HabariPay, stated: “Today’s dynamic, digitally driven world demands continuous innovation, which is shaping how economies grow, how businesses scale, and how societies evolve. Through “Take on Squad” Hackathon, we are deliberately investing in the ideas and talent that will define the future. Our objective is not simply to encourage innovation, but to enable its translation into scalable solutions that deliver real and measurable impact. This reflects GTCO’s role as a financial services platform that connects capital, capability, and creativity to drive sustainable progress.”

The social coding event remains a cornerstone of HabariPay’s mission to foster creativity and problem-solving among emerging tech talents. Competing teams will leverage Squad’s advanced APIs to create scalable digital tools that address everyday challenges faced by businesses and individuals.

Through initiatives such as this, GTCO continues to position itself at the intersection of finance, technology, and enterprise, actively shaping the future of digital transformation in Africa.

About HabariPay

HabariPay Ltd is the fintech subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), one of the largest financial services institutions in Africa with direct and indirect investments in a network of operating entities located in 10 countries across Africa and the United Kingdom.

Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), our goal is to support SMEs, micro merchants, large corporations, and other fintechs (Tech Stars) with the tools they need to thrive in an evolving digital economy and expand beyond their current market reach. HabariPay’s solutions include Squad, a full-scale digital payments toolkit to make in-person and online payments simpler, HabariPay Storefront, an e-commerce website to facilitate online purchases, Value-Added Services to help merchants access cost-effective and flexible airtime and data bundles to run their businesses, as well as a switching infrastructure that enables tech-focused businesses to optimise cost and make transactions more efficient.

HabariPay’s contributions to Accelerating Digital Acceptance in Africa have not gone unnoticed–it received Mastercard’s Innovative Mobile Payment Solution Award at TIA 2022 for its innovative payment solution, SquadPOS.

About Squad

Squad is a complete digital payments solution that is reliable, secure, and affordable, making receiving in-person and online payments simpler and convenient.

Thousands of merchants currently leverage Squad’s payment solutions for their daily business operations. Squad’s current products and service offerings include SquadPOS, Squad Payment Links, Squad Virtual Accounts, USSD, and E-Commerce Storefront.

Find out more at www.squadco.com.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO” or the “Group”) has released its Audited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The Group reported profit before tax of ₦1.23trillion underpinned by strong growth in core earnings, with interest income and fee income increasing y-o-y by 23.2% and 25.9%, respectively. The performance reaffirms its capacity to generate sustainable earnings and builds on the momentum from 2024, when GTCO delivered a record profit of ₦1.27trillion, driven in part by ₦517.5billion in fair value gains, which did not recur in 2025.

The Group’s 2025 profit after tax came in at ₦865.75billion against ₦1.02trillion recorded in 2024. The profit after tax reflects the impact of recent fiscal policy adjustments to the taxation of investment securities, notably withholding tax on short-term instruments. However, when normalised for this effect, underlying earnings remain robust, driven by growth in core operating income.

The Group continues to maintain a well-structured, healthy, and diversified balance sheet in all the jurisdictions wherein it operates a Banking franchise, as well as across its Payments, Pension, and Funds Management business verticals. Total assets and shareholders’ funds closed at ₦17.8trillion and ₦3.4trillion, respectively. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very robust and strong, closing at 43.8%, likewise asset quality improved as evidenced by IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans, which closed at 3.4% and 5.0% at the Bank and Group level in FY-2025 (Bank, 3.5%, and Group, 5.2% in December 2024). Cost of Risk (COR) also improved to 2.2% from 4.9% in December 2024. In specific terms, the Group’s loan book (net) grew by 12.4% from ₦2.79trillion as of December 2024 to ₦3.13trillion in December 2025. Similarly, deposit liabilities grew by 23.8% from ₦10.40trillion to ₦12.87trillion during the same period.

Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said: “Our 2025 result underscores the resilience and depth of our earnings capacity. Following a record 2024, which included significant fair value gains, our focus has been on strengthening the sustainability of our earnings by driving growth across our core banking and ecosystem businesses. The strength of our underlying earnings, despite a stronger Naira and tighter regulatory parameters, reflects the quality of our franchise and the discipline with which we execute our strategy. Importantly, this strong core earnings performance underpins our capacity to sustain and grow shareholder returns. Our record dividend payout this year is not only a reflection of our current profitability but also of our confidence in the Group’s long-term earnings potential. Looking ahead, we remain focused on scaling our ecosystem, driving innovation across our financial services platform, and delivering consistent, high-quality earnings that support superior value creation for our shareholders.”

Overall, the Group continues to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian Financial Services Industry in terms of key financial ratios, i.e., Post-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 28.3%, Post-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 5.3%, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 43.8%, and Cost to Income Ratio of 27.9%.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc is a leading financial services group with operations across Africa and the United Kingdom. Renowned for its strong corporate governance, innovative financial solutions, and customer-centric approach, the Group provides a wide range of banking and non-banking services, including payments, funds management, and pension fund administration. GTCO Plc is committed to delivering long-term value to stakeholders while driving growth and development across its markets