Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has disclosed that the institution would open for further collaborations to corporate organisations in the country following a successful innovative partnership between the school and top Nigerian financial institution, Ecobank, during the Investment Society, Unilag Colloquium held on September 2, 2019.
Welcoming such partnership between operators in the financial sector and the academia in raising budding entrepreneurs, the Vice Chancellor noted that this would bring the much-needed development to the nation’s economy.
He disclosed this while receiving management staff of Ecobank Nigeria in his office and extolled the bank for partnering with an association (The Investment Society) set up by some undergraduate students of the school to share and expand their knowledge of finance and consulting towards entrepreneurship.
“We are glad to have you and your team here. Your financial support and physical presence in this colloquium are clear indications that you are interested in building young entrepreneurs which also aligns with our vision as a university. Ecobank has been our good partner,” he said.
Mr Ogundipe then used the opportunity to speak on the University of Lagos Economic Summit and called on the bank to extend their hands of partnership towards the conference and ahead of the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) games.
“We appreciate your support on some of our various programmes over the years. This is also an opportunity to seek your partnership for our forthcoming Economic Summit and NUGA games. We seek stronger ties in this direction of raising young entrepreneurs,” he said.
In his response, Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, restated the commitment of the bank to partner with tertiary institutions in the country on initiatives that would enhance and promote entrepreneurship, scholarship and conducive learning environment across the country.
He assured that Ecobank will partner the University of Lagos on its planned Economic Summit and other initiatives that would widen the students’ entrepreneurial scope.
Mr Akinwuntan reiterated that Ecobank as a group was committed to contributing to the economic development and financial integration of Africa, noting that Ecobank offers a natural advantage with its unmatched pan-African banking competencies, built up over the last 25 years.
“We are marshalling our impressively broad presence, our proficiency and our performance to support Africa’s development. We will continue to play a pivotal role as a pioneer in financial integration and inclusive banking in Arica. We operate in 36 countries in Africa with representative offices in Paris, Beijing, Dubai, Johannesburg and London,” he stated.
