Apparently moved by the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN's) directive for banks to increase the number of women on their board, the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) Sunday announced the appointment of two more women - Mrs. Rose Ada Okwechime and Mrs. Owanari Duke as members of its board of directors.

A statement from the bank said that the appointments were made at a board meeting held on July 13.

This, it said, has increased the number of women on its board to four.

UBA said that the appointments have been approved by the CBN.

"Okwechime is the Managing Director of Abbey Building Society; a multi-billion naira mortgage institution. She has served as a public company director for over 20 years and her experience of the financial services industry includes service at the Bank of England.

"Okwechime was formerly a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Standard Trust Bank Plc and UBA. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria; the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London; the Institute of Brand Management; the Institute of Direct Marketing of Nigeria and member of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria," the statement added.

On the other hand, Duke, a former First Lady of Cross River State, is a legal practitioner.

UBA explained: "She is a specialist in mediation and dispute resolution and philanthropist. She has been the Managing Partner of the law firm of Duke & Bob-Manuel and also the Executive Chairman of Allied Merchants & Brokers Limited.

She is a Member of the Board of United Nations Centre for Trade & Development (UNCTAD) and the Country Director of EMPRETEC Nigeria Foundation."

Commenting on the appointment, the Chairman, UBA Board of Directors, Chief Israel Ogbue, was quoted to have said: "We welcome these further distinguished members to our Board and look forward to benefiting from their wealth of experience, as we continue to provide the required leadership and drive to grow shareholders' value and delivering on our objective of being a leading African financial services institution."