The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is committed to developing a culture of wealth creation among young Nigerians toward building a financially savvy generation.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema stated this yesterday at the award ceremony of the 2017 NSE annual essay competition for secondary schools.
According to him, as the sustainable exchange championing Africa’s growth, they are committed to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which is quality education for all by 2030 – SDG number 4.
“We are playing our part in building a financially savvy generation, by implementing and supporting a number of programmes that contribute to raising the level of financial literacy in Nigeria. Notable among these programmes is the NSE Essay Competition which began in the year 2000. The competition is aimed at bridging the gap between classroom learning and practical knowledge required for long-term personal financial planning. It serves as an essential platform to get the perspectives of our young ones on key challenges relating to financial literacy and inclusion in Nigeria,†he said.
According to him, since inception, the NSE Essay Competition has inspired over 60,000 young people in more than 7,000 schools across Nigeria to showcase what they have learnt about the financial market.
He added that the cash reward and prizes continue to improve year on year, disclosing that this year, the top three winners will share a total cash prize of about N2 million in form of scholarship award and equity investments.
Onyema said apart from the essay competition, other financial literacy initiatives include school excursions to the exchange, X-Tours, NSE Adopt-A-School initiative, school outreach programmes, financial literacy workshops and of course platforms such as the Global Money Week.
“We recently donated a school, Maisandari Alamderi Model Nursery and Primary School, to the Borno State Government as part of our commitment to the global drive of inclusive and equitable quality education for all. The school which is designed to help Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state, is made up of two blocks of classrooms for 330 pupils and an administrative block consisting of a staff room, sickbay, security office and restrooms,†he said.
The NSE boss said through these initiatives, they have been able to promote financial literacy among young Nigerians, by encouraging them to learn how good financial decisions can better their lives now and in the future and ultimately grow the economy.
