First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has partnered with Enactus Challenge to organise a youth empowerment programme which brought together 35 tertiary institutions nationwide for a national competition that held in Lagos.
FCMB, in the past 6 years, has supported projects in various states including Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto and Rivers states. Through these projects, the bank has impacted over 900 women and young people and empowered them with viable skills that help them earn a living.
Enactus Challenge is a global initiative, established to harness and celebrate dexterity and novel ideas of young people especially students.
During the competition, the students presented their various initiatives and projects which they executed in their host communities across the country. The participating students formed teams on their university campuses and applied business concepts to develop these outreach projects that improve quality of life and standard of living.
Addressing guests and participants at the competition, FCMB’s group head, marketing and communications, Ikechukwu Kalu, said the bank’s support and sponsorship of Enactus is part of its contribution towards encouraging students and youths to discover their potential, align their initiatives with visible projects which they implement, thereby contributing more to national development
Ekiti State University, which made its seventh appearance at this year’s competition, won the trophy by presenting a mat weaving project which it tagged Eni-Riran.
According to the team leader, Dolapo Odupele, the project took her team members to Ogotun-Ekiti, a rural community near the university, where the people’s traditional business, mat-weaving, had been abandoned long time ago due to poor patronage.
