Ecobank Day 2023 focused on the acquisition of digital skills by Africa’s children and youth
Date: 2023-10-26
The Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group has celebrated it 10th anniversary of Ecobank Day, its flagship social impact event, to launch a three-year 'Transforming Africa Through Education' campaign to focus on digital education and equipping children and youth with the digital skills they need for the job of tomorrow.
Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Group, Jeremy Awori said “Ecobank Day reflects the giving spirit of all 14,000 Ecobankers across the Group. For 10 years, it has given us an opportunity to manifest our commitment to making a positive impact in the communities we serve. This year, we focus on digital education, which is critical for Africa to leapfrog and accelerate its development. For several years, Ecobank has embarked on a journey of digitalization consistent with our deep belief in the transformative power of digital technology for a more inclusive future in Africa. It is only natural that on the Ecobank Day, we have supported the launch of a series of training programmes and provided the necessary infrastructure to offer basic digital education to youth across Africa.”
Ahead of the Ecobank Day celebrations, Ecobank Foundation, in partnership with the Global Partnership for Education and UN Women, organised a webinar entitled ‘Igniting Africa’s Digital Future through the Power of Coding’. The webinar was well-attended with over a thousand participants, and featured experts and the youth, discussing the importance of ensuring that all African children and youth have access to digital skills, mostly coding and programming, that are essential for jobs of the future and a fulfilled life.
Ecobank’s
affiliates across 33 sub-Saharan African countries continue to hold a range of
activities to raise awareness and knowledge of the importance of digital skills
for Africa’s children and youth. These activities include creating or equipping
IT Labs, refurbishing schools, providing youth digital skills training
workshops, partnering with schools to improve digital facilities, mentoring
initiatives and more.
Ecobank Day has
supported a wide range of causes over the years since 2013. These have included
Education for young people in Africa (2013); Malaria prevention and control
(2014); Every African child deserves a better future (2015); ICT education in
schools and improving maternal health (2016); Safe water management (2017);
Orphanages (2018); Cancer (2019); Diabetes (2020); Mental health (2021) and
financial literacy and financial inclusion (2022).
