To assist the growth of Nigeria’s educational infrastructure and boost the sector’s productivity and economic output, Sterling Bank is contributing around N50 billion in funding.
This information was revealed in a statement issued in Lagos by Obinna Ukachukwu, Divisional Head of Business Growth and Transaction Banking at Sterling Bank. According to him, the bank would make investments in fields of study and careers that are in demand and have a strong likelihood of producing stable income for both the individual and the economy.
According to Ukachukwu, the bank focuses on occupations where there is ready demand in the public and commercial sectors to hire the graduates, decreasing the time from graduation to productivity. These occupations enable people to contribute productively to their communities and the country.
He stated, “We would assist infrastructure development necessary to generate skilled labor in certain interest industries. We believe that if the government is focused on developing these basic services, we will need skilled manpower to drive them, and these skills can only be provided by universities. The majority of sectors broadly cover health and public goods and services like utilities, power, water, and waste management among others.
The Sterling Bank will support this kind of value-chain since it will result in a large number of graduates who will find employment, which will in turn generate more value to sustain the projects. This manner, our universities will become more focused on clear curricula that lead to generating such competent personnel.
Instead than focusing on lofty undertakings with limited relevance to society or the economy, according to Ukachukwu, it is crucial to concentrate on developing professions that can address Nigeria’s difficulties.
Additionally, he pointed out that local investment is more than capable of filling the shortfall in development financing, therefore foreign investments in the Nigerian education sector may not be the most realistic approach.
The head of the division also discussed the lender’s recent efforts to close the value gap between university and business, noting that Sterling Bank launched the first student loan program in software engineering in the nation in order to make investments in disciplines where graduates can find job after graduation.
He claimed that the bank had started a nine-month software engineering diploma program that would cost each student between N3 million and N3.5 million.
According to his assertion, “there is a mismatch between earning a degree and leading a satisfying life, which creates a big difficulty in Nigeria’s education industry. Until this gap is closed, investing in the education sector will be useless.
