UBA: Read Africa Initiative spreads to Ghana

In line with its Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, initiative, UBA Foundation, the CRS arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, continued its quest to educate and empower African youths has taken the laudable programme to Ghana, Nigeria’s West African neighbour.

The bank, in a statement, said the initiative has been taken to Accra High School in Ghana.

According to the financial institution, “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.

“UBA Foundation is helping rekindle the dwindling reading culture amongst African youths, as they pursue their education. Over 100,000 books and educational materials have been donated to various schools across Africa, as the Foundation continues to traverse the continent, contributing positively to the development of African youths.”

The bank adds, “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 prepared 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, advised the students to pay a lot of attention to studying, saying that, ‘Don’t spend all your time glued to your mobile phones. Spare some moments for reading also.’

The bank said, “The Assistant head master of Accra High School, Michael Addo thanked the UBA Foundation for coming to their Aid.

“As the CSR 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.”

“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.