By Dipo Olowookere
The Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Jide Sipe, has called on schools to partner with the bank as their preferred financial institution for payments and collections.
Mr Sipe, who was commenting on the lender’s partnership with HerAbility Hub to promote girl-child education, noted that Ecobank has demonstrated pedigree and expertise in fees collection, locally and internationally.
“We have special loan packages for parents and guardians to enable them to pay school fees for their children. Our digital offerings are targeted at reducing the financial burden on parents, students, and schools, and facilitating the ease of payment of fees without hassles.
“The digital offerings include Ecobank Mobile App, EcobankPay and Ecobank Online for contactless fees payment, personal loans and salary advance packages at competitive interest rates, international transfers for offshore school fees payment and affordable remittance offerings.
“Those who have families abroad who wish to send money home to help with fees can do so at zero charges on the Rapidtransfer app. The bank has also provided the Banking-for-School pack for educational institutions to access working capital and loans,” he said.
Recently, in line with its overall strategy to support the development of the nation’s education sector, Ecobank Nigeria threw its full weight behind the Somolu school tour, which was themed Shattering the Glass Ceiling.
The event featured career seminars, empowerment programmes and donations of diverse education materials to schools in Lagos.
According to Mr Sipe, the banking firm supported the event because “the guiding principle of Ecobank’s CSR activities is to contribute to the economic development and financial integration of Africa.”
“Our main focus is to give back and contribute effectively to the societies in which we operate. This partnership follows our recognition of the inherent threat of a weak reading culture in Nigeria and its part of our dedicated efforts on literary advocacy amongst youths,” he added.
The founder of HerAbility Hub, Dr Omoayena Odunbaku, while commending Ecobank for the support, stressed that the success of the tour would nourish the future of many and transcend the borders that hinder the progress and success of the girl-child.
“The school tour was scheduled for four different locations across four days. It was targeted at 1,200 participants including 1,000 students across 19 government secondary schools, desk officers, keynote speakers and resource persons.
“Participation was by representation with a maximum of 50 students (25 male, 25 females) from each of the schools. The schools include Igbobi Junior High School, Morocco Shomolu, St Luke’s Junior Grammar School. CMS, Gbagada Comprehensive school, Bariga, Baptist Junior Grammar School, Obanikoro,” she stated.
Dr Odunbaku explained that HerAbility Hub is a female community platform that provides and integrates career talks channelled towards mentorship of young female secondary school students, film forums that give inspiration and steer critical thinking skills, and girl-child empowerment projects that are complemented with civic engagement lessons.
Further, she stated that HerAbility Hub advocates for girl-child empowerment by disseminating information that promotes the girl child’s sense of self-worth and their ability to determine their own choices, providing them with inspiration to break glass ceilings, motivating them to contribute positively to society, especially in the crucial years of their transition into adulthood and equipping them with the right resources to transcend rigid gender norms that undermine their full potentials.
Aduragbemi Omiyale