Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) says it is using the 2026 Citi Business Olympics not only as a platform for sporting competition but also as an opportunity to strengthen relationships and team spirit among its employees.
The bank, which secured three medals at last year’s competition, is preparing to field teams across all the sporting disciplines at this year’s event, with the aim of improving its overall performance.
Unit Head for Branding and Events at UMB, Peter Hall, said the bank had started preparations early to ensure that its employees were adequately prepared for the competition.
“We knew we had competition ahead, so we started doing our plans,” he said.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Wednesday, September 23, Mr Hall said participation in the Business Olympics forms part of the bank’s efforts to promote employee wellbeing and create opportunities for staff to interact outside the workplace.
He said sporting activities helped break down departmental barriers by bringing together employees who might not ordinarily have regular interaction in the course of their work.
“The conversation moves from being in the office and your suit and tie. Now we are bonding. We’re having conversations,” he said.
Mr Hall explained that employees from different areas of the bank, including tellers, operations supervisors, relationship managers and treasury staff, get the opportunity to compete and work together towards shared objectives.
According to him, the event therefore provides benefits beyond the medals, as it helps strengthen camaraderie and collaboration among staff.
While emphasising the team-building value of the competition, Mr Hall said UMB was also entering this year’s event with clear sporting ambitions.
He said the bank would compete in every discipline available and was targeting a significant improvement on its three-medal haul from the previous edition.
“We are coming in like a wounded lion. We are here to end that dominance. It cannot continue in 2026,” he said.
“And so we are participating in all the sporting disciplines, and the target is to sweep and finish tops on the medal table. That is our overall goal for this year’s City Business Olympics,” he added.
The 2026 Citi Business Olympics is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, at the Eden Heights Sports Complex, beginning at 8:00 a.m.
The event will feature 7-a-side football, volleyball, basketball, lime and spoon, lawn tennis, sack race, tug of war, draughts, chess, scrabble, swimming and the CEO’s Challenge.
The competition is being held under the theme, “Bridging the Gap in Our Corporate World Through Sports,” and is expected to bring together employees from companies and corporate organisations for a day of competition, networking and team building.
The Citi Business Olympics 2026 is powered by 97.3 Citi FM, with support from Channel One TV, and sponsored by Cargill Ghana Limited, Synlab, UMB, Bethel Logistics and Eden Heights Sports Complex.
