Yemisi Izuora
The UBA Foundation in its bid to encourage African youths to adopt the culture of reading is boosting its ‘Read Africa’ initiative.
Read Africa aims to rekindle the reading culture amongst young Africans. Designed and introduced in 2011 by the UBA Foundation, the initiative has donated hundreds of thousands of books to African schools since its inception.
This past week, The Foundation took its initiative to the francophone city of Libreville to the students of the George MABIGNATH high school in Gabon.
The launch of Read Africa in Gabon saw in attendance, the author of the selected book Sidonie, written by famous Gabonese writer Chantal Magalie MBAZOO.
It was a colorful ceremony that witnessed the CEO of the Foundation, Bola Atta reading to and interacting with the students in high energy in the presence of their Principal, Mrs. BOUDOUNGHOU BIBOUTOU Isabelle and other staff members.
Bola Atta summarized the Foundation’s initiative saying “At the UBA Foundation, we are committed to improving the lives of the youths on the continent and one of the ways we can achieve this is to help you read more. I am here to talk to you a little about the importance of reading and how it can radically change your life. Reading encourages you to dream, it expands your knowledge, your vocabulary. It is a path to achieving your ambitions.”.
Chioma Mang, the CEO of UBA Gabon also reiterated the mission of UBA and emphasized the bank’s commitment to the Gabonese community. ‘ I love children and I am happy to be here with you all today. I’d like to encourage you to read very well so that you can reach great heights in your life like me. UBA is going to be there for you all the way. You can count on us’ said Mrs Mang.
The Read Africa initiative then moved on to Zambia to the Horizon Secondary School in Lusaka where the Director in the ministry of higher education in charge of Vocation, Education and Training, Mr Alex Simumba, thanked UBA and the Foundation for the good work that is being done across Africa. He said ‘To UBA Foundation, we thank you for your support to the institution today. We welcome this and many more collaborations in the field of literacy and other higher education programmes. We also further encourage other private sector organisations to take a keen interest in such programmes because the youths who are receiving these literary materials will be benefitting greatly from them.
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 instituted 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.