NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 25: A young man, dressed in a biohazard costume, stands on the corner of 546 West 147th Street on October 25, 2014 in New York City. After returning to New York City from Guinea, where he was working with Doctors Without Borders treating Ebola patients, Dr. Craig Spencer was quarantined after showing symptoms consistent with the virus. Spencer was taken to Bellevue hospital to undergo testing where he was officially diagnosed with the Ebola virus on October 23. Bryan /AFP
By Jonah Nwokpoku
UBA Capital Plc, an investment and asset management arm of United Bank for Africa, will halt its African expansion plan on concern about the spread of the outbreak of Ebola.
The company’s shareholders voted to stop its regional expansion and to transfer N402 million of proceeds from a rights offer into infrastructure projects in Nigeria and working capital instead. UBA Capital also changed its name to United Capital Plc.
Chairman of UBA Capital, Chika Mordi told reporters that, “Events of the past one year in affected countries were not foreseen during expansion and fundraising plans.”
The outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease has led to serious consequences for business in the region.
Last month, Dangote Cement Plc, Nigeria’s biggest company, said it delayed a project in Sierra Leone until the crisis abates, while SIC Insurance Co., Ghana’s second-largest insurer, said the company probably won’t revive plans “anytime soon” to open offices in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
“Companies are moving away from the countries hit by Ebola, so we can’t be going there at this time,” said Boniface Okezie, the national coordinator of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, which holds a minority stake in the company.
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