BusinessDay 20 Jul 2017

14
BUSINESS DAY
COMPANIES & MARKETS
Actis builds first pan-African
higher education network
C002D5556
Thursday 20 July 2017
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
Actis, a leading investor
in growth
markets, has built
the first pan-African
private higher
education network bringing
together the leading tertiary
education institutions in
North and Southern Africa.
The network, which is
called Honoris United Universities,
is designed to harness
the collaborative intelligence
and the pioneering efforts of
these institutions to educate
Africa’s next generations of
leaders and professionals.
There are over 600 accredited
universities in Africa.
Luis Lopez, newly appointed
CEO of Honoris United
Universities, expressed delight
at introducing Honoris United
Universities, which he said is a
unique platform providing international
quality education.
“It is rooted in the vision of
the founders of the member
institutions. Aware of the vital
need for their communities to
develop human capital, they
have each worked for decades
to build relevant and demanding
academic models with the
dual objectives of developing
the employability and the
life skills of their graduates,”
Lopez said.
This initiative will help
African universities take their
proper place in resolving African
challenges and in terms
of development, science, technology,
and all the economic
output that should come from
it.
Wellington Oyibo, professor
of medical parasitology
and director of the Research
and Innovation Centre at the
University of Lagos in said
that when universities come
together to share strengths
the multiplier effects would
be enormous, given that North
and Southern Africa universities
have different set of
strengths.
“When these strengths are
shared, and leveraged upon,
development could easily
be escalated across the subregions,”
Oyibo told Business-
Day in a phone interview.
Actis began with “beacon”
markets in Francophone
Africa. In December
2014, it made an investment
in Université Centrale
Group, the leading
post-secondary education
group in Tunisia. In 2016,
the platform expanded to
Morocco, creating a Northern
Africa Hub through its
investment in Université
Mundiapolis. Mundiapolis
L-R: Tunji Kazeem, chief risk officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Babalola Obilana, executive director, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management
Ltd (SIAML); Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju, chief executive, SIAML; Haruna Jalo-Waziri, executive director, business development, NSE; Ifeoma
Esiri, chairman, SIAML; Shuaib Audu, executive director, SIAML; Titi Ogungbesan, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Ltd; Tony
Ibeziako, head, domestic primary markets, NSE, and Oladele Sotubo, executive director, Stanbic IBTC Pensions Managers Ltd, during the
bell ringing ceremony for the listing of the SIAML Dollar Fund at the NSE in Lagos.
Pic by Pius Okeosisi
is renowned for its international
approach and focus
on employability.
Honoris United Universities
will first settle in South
Africa, an important Anglophone
beacon market that
will anchor the platform in
Southern Africa. Subject to
regulatory approvals, Honoris
has entered into an investment
agreement with Management
College of Southern Africa,
better known as “MANCOSA”,
and the REGENT Business
School. Together, MANCOSA
and REGENT are South Africa’s
leading private distance
learning institutions, focused
on providing accredited, accessible
and affordable education.
These agreements in Morocco
and South Africa mark
the genesis of the pan-African
education leadership
position that Honoris United
Universities seeks to cement.
As a whole, Honoris United
Universities will offer more
than 100 degrees in fields
including Health Sciences,
Engineering, IT, Business, Law,
Architecture, Arts and Design,
Media, Education and Political
Science. Delivery is focused
on student success and accessibility
and includes a blend of
on-campus, learning centers
and distance learning.
First Bank debuts Financial
Literacy Programme in
Ebonyi State
First Bank of Nigeria
Limited (FBN)
has expanded its
Financial Literacy
programme to the Eastern
part of the country with the
launch of its Financial Literacy
programme for Secondary
Schools in Ebony State, under
the auspices of the FirstBank
FutureFirst Programme.
The initiative launched
in 2013 in partnership with
Junior Achievement Nigeria
and the Lagos State Empowerment
& Resource Network
(LEARN) is designed to empower
students of secondary
schools with requisite
knowledge of financial literacy
and career counseling
to equip them with knowledge
of money management,
early entrepreneurship skills,
and financial independence
whilst stimulating the development
of a savings culture
at an early age.
The FutureFirst Financial
Literacy Programme is an
ongoing Corporate Responsibility
initiative of FirstBank
which aligns with the Bank’s
Sustainable Finance objective,
a key focus area of the Bank’s
Corporate Sustainability and
Responsibility Strategy. The
Bank has recorded immense
success in implementing the
programme in Lagos, Port
Harcourt, Enugu and Abuja
which saw staff volunteer their
time and resources to teach
students in over 80 secondary
schools, impacting over 60,000
students and committing over
220,000 staff volunteering
hours since the programme
was launched.
In order to further expand
its reach with the financial
literacy agenda to Nigerian
youths, FirstBank has
spread its tentacles to Ebonyi
State, South-Eastern Nigeria,
launching the FutureFirst Financial
Literacy Programme
in the State with the Commissioner
for Education; the
Secretary to the State Government;
Head of the State Board
of Education; 30 principals
of selected schools and staff
of the Bank in attendance.
Subsequently, FirstBank staff
volunteers were trained by
Junior Achievement Nigeria
as part of the requisite trainthe-trainers
exercise and
assigned to schools. School
teachers in the state were also
trained to ensure sustainability
of the programme. Thirty
schools are currently participating
in the financial literacy
exercise in Ebonyi State with
more schools to follow.
FirstBank’s Future First Financial
Literacy Programme
is in line with the CBN’s drive
for financial inclusion which
seeks to ensure financial
inclusion for the unbanked
having a strong bearing on
financial stability, economic
growth and development for
the citizenry.
SNEPCo launches health
campaign in Abuja
…treats over 4,000 people
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
The Shell Nigeria
Exploration and
Production Company
(SNEPCo)
has launched its first medical
outreach in the federal
Gidan Mangoro community
of Karu in Abuja capital territory.
The outreach aims to treat
more than 4,000 beneficiaries
and provide medical supplies
to five local primary schools,
in a bid to improve the overall
health and raise the awareness
of the risks associated
with inadequate personal
healthcare.
The two-day programme
is the latest phase of Shell’s
Health-in-Motion programme,
which was rolled
out in the Niger Delta in 2005.
Bayo Ojulari, managing
director of SNEPCo, said the
crusade aims to take free promotionary,
preventive and
curative health services to the
hard-to-reach communities
in Nigeria.
“We hope to be able to
support the efforts of government
at all levels in providing
accessible healthcare to the
people,” said Ojulari, who was
represented by Akinwumi
Fajola, Shell’s regional community
health manager.
Ojulari further advised
against ignoring early signs
of health challenge that could
make it difficult for prompt
and effective management by
medical officers.
The exercise provided
indigenes the opportunity
to see health experts who
provided full range of health
services for free. 4,224 people
from the community benefitted
from different health services
such as eye and dental
check, mass deworming,
cardiovascular screenings.
Other services include HIV
& malaria testing and breast
and cervical cancer screenings
services.
3 women were treated on
the spot with cryotherapy,
for early stages of cancer of
the cervix; 17 women with
breast lumps had free mammograms
done; 600 people
with impaired vision received
reading glasses as those requiring
further management
were referred to the General
Hospital Karu.
Besides rendering free
health services, team also
leveraged the opportunity to
educate the community.
The medical outreach was
held in collaboration with
the Abuja Municipal Area
Council (AMAC) and had in
attendance representative of
the FCT Minister, Mathew
Ashikeni; the traditional ruler
of Karu, His Royal Highness,
Emmanuel Kyauta Yewp; and
Chairman of AMAC, Abdullahi
Adamu Candido.