On Tuesday July 4th, 2017, The UBA Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, continued on its quest to educate and empower African youths as it visited the Accra High School in Ghana.
UBA Foundation’s Read Africa Initiative was launched in 2011 and has been changing the lives of African students across the continent for six years. The project is aimed at encouraging children to improve their vocabulary and communication skills through reading. Through its Read Africa initiative, the UBA Foundation is helping rekindle the dwindling reading culture amongst African youths as they pursue their education. Over a hundred thousand books and educational materials have been donated to various schools across Africa as UBA Foundation continues to traverse the continent, contributing positively to the development of African youths.
The Accra High school assembly hall was packed with over 500 energetic and enthusiastic high school students who were already in reading mode as they prepare for their exams next week. They were eager to talk about their own ambitions and to read passages from The Fishermen.
Bola Atta, Acting CEO of the UBA Foundation, told the children that the Foundation was eager to give back to society and to contribute to creating dynamic educational platforms for future generations on the continent. She encouraged the students to read voraciously saying: ‘the pursuit of knowledge should be a lifelong activity that starts at a very young age. You should read all types of books so that you can explore and shape your own narrative.’
Abiola Bawuah, the CEO of UBA Ghana who was also present, advised the students to pay a lot of attention to studying. ‘Don’t spend all your time glued to your mobile phones. Spare some moments for reading also’ said Bawuah.
The Assistant head master of Accra High School, Michael Addo thanked the UBA Foundation for coming to their Aid.
United Bank for Africa (UBA)Plc, Africa’s global bank, is committed to being a socially responsible company and role model for all businesses in Africa. UBA understands that there is a need for a social contract between the bank, the communities in which it operates, and its people. To this end, in 2006, UBA became the first bank in Nigeria to institute a foundation, the UBA Foundation. As the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the UBA Group, UBA Foundation is committed to the socio-economic betterment of communities across the African continent focusing on development in the areas of Environment, Education, Economic Empowerment and Special Projects.