Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, has said that given today’s highly complex world, financial literacy education should be a continuous learning exercise among students and the younger generation in order to enhance the retention rate and application.
Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Yinka Sanni, represented by the Head, Public Sector Group, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Yusufu Modibbo, emphasized that having a solid foundation in financial knowledge prepares students and young adults for financial independence.
Making a presentation at Government Girls Secondary School, Maimuna Gwarzo, Tudun Wada, Kaduna State, as part of activities to mark the 2016 Financial Literacy Day, Mr. Sanni said financial literacy has gone beyond opening and maintaining a savings account at a local bank. The growing sophistication of society and the attendant need for customized products, services, and solutions means that customers must be sufficiently informed to enable them make appropriate choices and manage their personal finances successfully, he said. In addition, as technological improvements have prompted significant changes in the way the financial services market operates, consumers generally must become familiar with the changing roles in the conduct of financial transactions.
For a start, Mr. Sanni said students need to have a grasp of basic money management skills such as living within a budget as well as handling credit and debt, all of which will put them in good stead for better management of finances and future success.
He said the Stanbic IBTC Group recognizes the pivotal role of qualitative education in socio-economic development; a reason education is one of three focus areas for the group’s corporate social investment (CSI). Others are health and economic empowerment.
“We see ourselves as a catalyst for progressive change. Everything we do as an organization is tailored towards making you move from where you are to the next level. We know that a cure for financial illiteracy is to start practicing financial discipline from a young age and that with the right financial knowledge, the future generation will be able to make informed decisions and move themselves forward,” he stated, adding, “Our desire is to equip these students to be able to make smarter, more informed decisions than the generation before them. The knowledge that we have impacted in them will surely place them ahead in the learning curve.”
In her contribution, principal of the school Hajiya Hassana Usman commended Stanbic IBTC for choosing the school for its intervention, describing it as a priceless gesture. “Education goes beyond what is being taught in the classroom. We need partnerships with corporate organizations like Stanbic IBTC to share life lessons with the students. We are optimistic that the knowledge impacted today will stay with the students through their lives.”
The session touched on topics like how to start saving, benefits of saving, knowledge and planning skills. Apart from the students, teachers, management and staff of the school, the event attracted representatives of the Director, Kaduna State Secondary Education Board (SEB), several community leaders, clergies, and other dignitaries from within the Tudun Wada community and its environs.
Also present were the Zonal Head, North West, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Bala Shehu, Regional Manager, Stanbic IBTC Bank, North West 1, Mr. Adewunmi Olugbenga, Branch Manager, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Kasuwa Barci Branch Kaduna, Ms. Akudo Opara, Manager Events & CSI, Stanbic IBTC, Mrs. Ame Okwudi, and others.
The Financial literacy Day is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) aimed at encouraging children and young adults in junior and senior secondary school understand quite early in life the rudiments of money and its uses. Copies of a book on financial literacy donated by the CBN for the school’s library were presented to the school.
Stanbic IBTC Bank is a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars – Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Holdings belongs, is the largest African bank by assets and market capitalization. It is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in 20 countries on the African continent, including South Africa. Standard Bank has been in operation for over 153 years and is focused on building first-class, on-the-ground financial services organizations in chosen countries in Africa and connecting other selected emerging markets to Africa and to each other, applying sector expertise, particularly in natural resources, globally.