Maintain standard-bearer role for reliable information - UBA to Daily Graphic

The Regional Chief Executive Officer (CEO), West Africa, of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Chris Ofikulu, has urged the Daily Graphic and the other brands of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) to continue to provide accurate information for the public in an era of fake news and misinformation.

Mr Ofikulu said in an era when fake news and misinformation had saturated the public space, it would take conscious and sustained efforts by GCGL, which had proven credibility over the past seven decades, to maintain its standard-bearer role for reliable information.

I respect the media because it is through media outlets that people get information on businesses.

But some of the media organisations publish news that they have not verified, and such news can destroy businesses.

“For Graphic, I know you have credibility and respect media ethics; you are refined, so you have refined news; so continue to show the way,” he said.

He made the call when the Managing Director of GCGL, Ato Afful, led a team from the company to pay a courtesy call on the management of UBA in Accra last Thursday.

The team included the Editor, Graphic, Theophilus Yartey; Director, Marketing, Franklin Sowa, and the Corporate Communications Manager, Emmanuel Arthur.

For UBA, Mr Ofikulu was joined by the Deputy Managing Director of the Bank, Uzoechina Molokwu, and other officials.

The purpose of GCGL’s visit was to deepen the existing relationship between the two entities and to officially introduce Mr Yartey, who took office as the Editor, Graphic, in March this year, to the management of UBA.

Among other issues, the two sides discussed how they could collaborate to build a stronger relationship that would be of mutual benefit and create and share relevant business information with the public.

They agreed that since the GCGL and the UBA appealed to both regional and international clients, working together and leveraging the opportunities from both ends would help them to build stronger brands.

Graphic’s voice

Mr Ofikulu said the UBA was open to working with the GCGL to create informative content to fill the knowledge gap in the banking and finance space.

“No other media organisation is older and bigger than the GCGL, so when we work together, we can provide financial advisory services.

Graphic being the voice of UBA is a great initiative, so we need to develop work streams to look at the areas of collaboration,” he said.

Mutual benefit

For his part, Mr Afful said after playing a vanguard role in the media industry, the company was better placed to provide the platform for businesses to reach their audience.

He said the current Editor, Graphic, came to the position with a firm business background which meant that he understood the business ecosystem to help shape a better narrative for UBA and other entities.