UBA Foundation Joins Rest of the World to Celebrate International Day of the African Child;

UBA Foundation Joins Rest of the World to Celebrate International Day of the African Child

….Donates Books, Reading Sessions Across Africa .

In commemoration of the 2022 International Day of the African Child, the UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group, on Thursday, joined the rest of the world to celebrate African children by holding reading sessions for school children across the African continent and donating thousands of books in a special ‘Read Africa’ initiative

UBA Foundation’s Read Africa initiative was birthed almost two decades ago with a purpose of ensuring that African school children continue to read as they further their education. Read Africa also supports African authors in different languages(English, French, Portuguese, Swahili) through the selection and purchase of books by African authors from different countries on the continent.

In celebration of the African child, the UBA Foundation visited schools and orphanages across Africa donating thousands of books, school bags, food and other gifts as they stressed the importance of education and the expansion of knowledge.

At one of the reading sessions which was held at the Joef Dynamic College, Obalende, Lagos, the Foundation, led by its Managing Director/CEO, Bola Atta talked to the school children about topics ranging from financial literacy and the importance of imbibing a good reading culture to developing business acumen and following through passionately.

During her interaction with the school children, Bola Atta emphasised that every child deserves the right to learn. She told them, “The pursuit of knowledge should be a lifelong activity that starts at a very young age. You should cultivate an interest in reading not just academic text books but different types of books that will allow you to explore cultures and worlds outside your immediate environment so that you can expand your knowledge and your mind’ Atta said.

Whilst answering questions from the students, the Foundation’s CEO highlighted that one of the main objectives of the UBA Foundation is uplifting lives and communities on the African continent by creating dynamic educational platforms for future generations and future leaders.

June 16 every year has been set aside by the United Nations as the International Day of the African Child to celebrate children in Africa and to recognise the courage of students who marched for their right to better education in Soweto, South Africa.

The Vice Principal of Joef Dynamic College, Danladi Ladan, in his appreciation of UBA Foundation’s visit to the school and donations of books and other educational items said “Our school will continue to inculcate the habit of reading amongst students as we believe a society of knowledge is a panacea towards development.” He called on other corporate organisations to emulate UBA Foundation’s initiatives especially in the area of educational development.

UBA Foundation remains committed to its three key pillars which are Education, Empowerment and Environment. The Foundation has been actively involved in facilitating educational projects and bridging the literacy-wide gap on an African wide scale for close to two decades.

UBA Foundation Projects Message of Hope, Encouragement as Uzoka lights up the Foundation’s Garden Ahead of the Yuletide

UBA Foundation Projects Message of Hope, Encouragement as Uzoka lights up the Foundation’s Garden Ahead of the Yuletide

  • Set to Give Back at Its Annual Food Bank

l-r: Group Head, Customer Fulfilment Centre(CFC), United Bank for Africa Plc, Prince Ayewoh; Group Head, Personal Banking and Retail Liabilities, Ogechi Altraide; Deputy Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba; Group Managing Director/CEO, United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; Executive Director, Chiugo Ndubisi; UBA Foundation, Bola Atta; Head, Commercial and Corporate Banking, Muyiwa Akinyemi; and Head of Operations, Alex Alozie, at the 2021 Christmas and New Year Light Up Ceremony of UBA Foundation, Garden, by UBA Foundation at Marina, Lagos on Friday

Africa’s global bank, United Bank for Africa, through its UBA Foundation has been spreading joy across Africa for many years as they continue to give back to the underpriviledged in the communities in which they operate.

At the UBA Foundation gardens in Lagos where the bank is head quartered, a lights up ceremony was held to mark the start of the festive season. The garden lights were activated by UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka who was joined by other key management staff and some customers of the bank.

Uzoka who is also the chairman of  the UBA Foundation, emphasised that giving back was the main tenet of the UBA Foundation. He said ‘We have over the years, engaged in various activities aimed at appreciating our host communities all around Africa and especially in countries where we operate and so for us, these lights symbolise hope for the future and all the goodness it will bring into people’s lives.

‘it is hard to believe that we have been in this pandemic for almost two years. People have lost friends and family members and businesses decimated by the effects of the pandemic. There has been a general feeling of hopelessness but our desire is to fill people’s lives with hope once again.’ Continued Uzoka.

The UBA Foundation has been very active in combatting the spread of Covid -19 across Africa as the bank did not waste any time at the start of the pandemic, donating over $14m  to its communities across Africa to support the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, the Foundation will be feeding tens of thousands of people across Africa through its annual Food bank initiative where food, hygiene products and other gifts items are handed over to those who have less, especially during the festive season.

Group Managing Director/CEO, United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; flanked by Executive Director, Chukwuma Nweke; Head of Operations, Alex Alozie; MD-CEO, UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, and other staff members at the 2021 Christmas and New Year Light Up Ceremony of UBA Foundation Garden, at Marina, Lagos on Friday

The CEO, UBA Foundation, Mrs Bola Atta, said that the light up ceremony was important for the Foundation adding: “This goes beyond lighting up the Marina and adorning the streets with beautiful colours. It reminds us as an institution of our promise to continue to touch lives and treat our communities with kindness. We are living in very difficult times and a little gesture to put a smile on even one face, goes a very long way. We should all endeavour to do whatever we can, within our power, to uplift others’

The Lighting Ceremony which observed all necessary Covid-19 protocols was witnessed by members of staff and customers, and featured Christmas carols by UBA’s CFC choir, as well as a guided tour around the beautiful UBA Foundation Garden at the Lagos Marina.

UBA Foundation, the CSR arm of the UBA Group, is committed to the socio-economic betterment of the communities in which the bank operates, focusing on development in the areas of Education, the Environment, Economic Empowerment and other Special Projects.

UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition(NEC) 2021 Ready to Receive Digital Applications

UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition(NEC) 2021 Ready to Receive Digital Applications

+ Portal for NEC 2021 Opens…Prizes increase in value by 33%

UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has announced the commencement of the 2021 edition of its annual National Essay Competition (NEC) in Nigeria with a call for entries.

The National Essay Competition (NEC) is part of UBA Foundation’s education initiative which is aimed at promoting literacy and encouraging healthy and intellectual competition amongst senior secondary school students in Nigeria and across the African continent.

This year’s edition, which is its 11th, has been modified to ensure ease of access and the increased participation of students from Senior Secondary School across Nigeria, who can submit their entries from the comfort of their homes and schools through the UBAF NEC digital submission portal www.ubagroup.com/national-essay-competition.

Like the previous year, the prizes for the NEC 2021 winners have increased in value considerably by 33%. The first prize winner will receive an educational grant of N3 million to study at any African university of their choice, up from the N2.5 million in 2020. The second and third prizes now stand at N2.5 million and N2 million educational grants respectively. Winners of the 12 best essays will also go home with state-of-the-art Laptops to help them with their tertiary research work and other studies.

The Chief Executive Officer, UBA Foundation, Mrs. Bola Atta, said that the Foundation scaled up the prizes for the second year in a row in order to accommodate the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and also the fluctuation in the currency levels.

She explained that with the digital submission portal, more students in secondary schools across the country will have the opportunity to scan and send in their entries and compete to win educational grants for study at any university of their choice on the African continent.

“At UBA Foundation, it is imperative  that our programmes continue to impact lives in meaningful ways. We realise that the use of technologically driven initiatives is part of the modern day. We want to be able to reach the students where they are and this is mostly online. The digital portal for online submission has made it more comfortable for students to send in their applications and compete with ease. For those who do not have access to computers or data, we are going to make this competition inclusive by allowing them access to any UBA branch near them to submit their entries digitally. Every student who wishes to, will be able to enter for the NEC 2021 and stand a chance to win a fully funded University education through the UBA Foundation’ said Atta.

The essay topic for this year is: “What is the role of technology in educating the African Youth?” All essays must be handwritten and students have up until October 29, 2021 to upload the scanned copies of their handwritten entries as well as their IDs on the digital portal at www.ubagroup.com/national-essay-competition. No physical copies will be accepted this year.

The submissions will be evaluated by judges who are professors from reputable Nigerian Universities. These judges select the top 12 finalists who will take home consolation prizes including personal computers. The 12  finalists will write another supervised essay where the top three winners will be announced at the grand finale to be held on November 30th at UBA’s head office in Lagos, Nigeria.

The UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition has been rolled out in 4 other countries where UBA operates, with plans in place to cover 19 African countries in the next couple of years.

UBA Foundation embodies the UBA Group’s CSR objectives and seeks to impact positively on societies through several laudable projects and initiatives. The Foundation through its Education pillar, has donated hundreds of thousands of books to students across Africa under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative aimed at encouraging and promoting the reading culture in African youths.

Students can apply for the National Essay Competition 2021 at: www.ubagroup.com/national-essay-competition

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