In a bid to boost financial literacy among teens , United Capital Plc, one of Africa’s foremost investment banks and financial services institutions, announced 11-year-old, Pharez Obioha, as winner of its first ever, ‘A Day as CEO’ initiative.
An offshoot of the campaign, the initiative was created as one of the schemes to reward the best performing participants of United Capital Plc’s ‘Money Savvy Kid’ financial literacy workshop for children.
The workshop was inspired by the need to teach children fundamental money management skills at a young age in order for them to become financially responsible adults in the future and help our economy grow.
As the competition’s first-place winner, Pharez Obioha was given the unique opportunity to serve as CEO of United Capital Plc for one day. In his new role, he was given an exclusive tour of the company’s headquarters in Lagos, where he met with executive management and had a meet and greet with employees.
In addition, a prize presentation ceremony was held at the same location, where he was presented with a N150,000 cheque to be invested in his United Capital Education Trust account, an investment fund primarily focused on the welfare of children.
The first and second runners-up, Oluwatosin Babafemi, and Ayobami Arogundade received N100,000 and N50,000 respectively.
Speaking at the event, Group CEO of United Capital Plc, Peter Ashade, said “Children are the future of tomorrow, so it is critical to confront financial literacy in our society from a foundational level, and that is the basis for this initiative.
We are delighted to present these prizes to the children because it is our investment in their future, and we hope that this opportunity will inspire them to aim high and set lofty goals for themselves.”
He went on to say that the campaign received over 1,000 entries from children both at home and abroad. The winners were chosen based on their attendance and performance at the financial literacy workshop, adherence to the stated submission deadline, and possession of United Capital Education trust accounts, a feature that drove uptake of the investment product.
