Ecobank Ghana marks 10th Ecobank Day empowering youth with digital skills

Ecobank Ghana, an affiliate of Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group, has donated computers, accessories and other learning tools to two schools, Potters Village Orphanage, at Dodowa and South Labone Girls Technical Institute (SLATECH) in Accra, as part of the 10^th anniversary of its annual Ecobank Day.

Ecobank Day is Ecobank’s flagship corporate social responsibility event on which day Ecobank and its employees give back to their communities.

Each school will see their ICT Laboratory equipped with 21 computers, tables and chairs, a projector, and a UPS. The laboratory at SLATECH will be completely rehabilitated and students’ dual desks supplied to furnish three classrooms with additional chairs to match existing long tables at the dressmaking department.

A statement from Ecobank said the donations are aligned with the introduction of the new three-year Ecobank Day campaign launched across Ecobank’s 33 African markets, themed ‘Transforming Africa Through Education’.

The first year of the campaign focuses on digital education and creating opportunities for children and youth to receive the digital skills that they will need for tomorrow’s jobs. Ecobank will be constructing over 33 IT laboratories across its footprint as a key part of the 2023 Ecobank Day activities.

Speaking at the event in Accra, Dr Tomisin Fashina, the Group Executive, Operations & Technology/MD, eProcess said: “Ghana’s population is forecast to grow at 2.1 % per annum to reach 61.6 million by 2051 and it is vital that we equip our youth with the best possible skills that will set them up for tomorrow’s jobs. We are in an era of rapid technological advances with digital skills increasingly in demand by employers. We are particularly proud to be part of the new digital education narrative in Ghana through these donations of ICT laboratories.”

On her part, the acting Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Ms. Joana Mensah said: Ecobank takes the issue of corporate social responsibility very seriously, in every individual affiliate country and also at the group level.

“It is our expectation that these donations will help the students in these two schools improve their academic and practical performances, particularly digital skills, which is our main focus. We want the students to learn in a very conducive environment, just like students of better endowed schools, hence the decision to refurbish and equip the labs and the provision of the desks and additional chairs. It is our hope that both students and teachers would protect the items donated, so they would last longer to serve the needs of many more students in the years ahead”, she said.

Ecobank Day has supported and furthered a wide range of important causes every year since the maiden edition in 2013. These have been 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).