UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa Plc, has announced an increase in the prize value for its annual national essay competition as entries open for the 2024 edition.

Bola Atta, chief executive officer, UBA Foundation,

This year marks the 14th iteration of the contest, which aims to enhance literacy and promote intellectual development among senior secondary school students throughout Nigeria and the African continent.

In a statement, Bola Atta, chief executive officer, UBA Foundation, emphasized the organization’s unwavering commitment to educational excellence, particularly in light of ongoing global economic difficulties.

“We recognize the challenges families are facing, especially amid Nigeria’s current economic climate. By raising the first-place prize to N7.5 million and offering N5 million and N3.5 million for second and third places respectively, we are affirming our dedication to the education of African youth,” Atta stated.

She added that this increase in grant prizes is a reflection of their awareness regarding the escalating costs associated with quality education, demonstrating their resolve to enable outstanding students to achieve their academic aspirations without financial burden.

This year’s essay topic is “Discuss the Impact of Carbon Emission on Climate in Nigeria: Challenges and Solutions.”

Students are required to conduct thorough research, write, scan, and upload their handwritten essays via the digital portal by November 8, 2024.

Essays will be evaluated by esteemed English professors, who will select the top 75 submissions, each of which will receive a cash prize of N75,000.

Additionally, a regional competition will occur across four locations in Nigeria: Abuja, Enugu, Lagos, and Port Harcourt.

Here, 75 participants will vie for the opportunity to become one of the 20 finalists.

These finalists will then write a second essay, from which the top three will be chosen.

In recognition of their achievements, the 20 finalists will each receive brand-new laptops and other educational resources to support their studies and future research endeavors.

Moreover, teachers from the school with the highest number of submissions will also be rewarded. Atta highlighted that professors from leading Nigerian universities will serve as judges throughout all competition stages to ensure fairness and transparency in the evaluation process.

Reflecting on UBA Foundation’s ongoing commitment to development across Africa, Atta noted that the National Essay Competition (NEC) exemplifies the foundation’s broader educational initiatives.

One such program, ‘Read Africa,’ has successfully distributed hundreds of thousands of books to students across the continent.

“The competition exemplifies our pledge to nurture the next generation of African leaders and thinkers,” Atta affirmed.

“Through initiatives like this and our ‘Read Africa’ program, we are not just fostering literacy; we are making an investment in the intellectual resources that will shape Africa’s future.”

In pursuit of one of its goals to develop future finance and investment management professionals, CFA Society Nigeria in collaboration with FMDQNext, have exposed some outstanding students of Ekiti State University (EKSU) into basic investment skills, including live trading on FMDQ in Lagos.

The three-day hands-on training, themed: “Developing the Next Generation of Finance and Investment Management Leaders,” was initiated as part of CFA Nigeria’s University Outreach program aimed at developing future finance and investment management professionals through the establishment and endorsement of Investment Clubs in Nigerian universities amongst other initiatives.

“The training is one of the many ways by which CFA Society Nigeria. interfaces with Nigerian Universities through our various outreach programs including the iconic investment club network we are building across Nigerian Universities.

“All these are designed to catch them young, develop and deepen the talent pool in our financial markets and develop them into future leaders in the finance industry,” said President, CFA Society Nigeria, Ibukun Oyedeji.

Corroborating him, the Executive Director, CFA Society Nigeria, Yemi Ajagun said: “The students were highly engaged and enthusiastic throughout the training.

They appreciated the opportunity to learn outside the classroom and were particularly thrilled by the practical aspects of trading. The hands-on competition and overall experience exceeded their expectations.

“The positive reception and successful outcomes have proven our concept of exposing students to immersive hands-on and practical training with practitioners as a way of enriching the learning experience of students.

“FMDQNext served as the host and provided training facilitators, access to their facilities, and practical trading demonstrations. FMDQ’s involvement was pivotal in ensuring the students had real-world exposure to finance and trading activities.”

A cross-section of the students, expressed gratitude to CFA Society Nigeria, FMDQ Next, and the Pro-Chancellor for making the experience possible. They highlighted the transformative nature of the training, stating that it provided them with invaluable insights into the financial world and prayed that the opportunity would be availed to many more students.

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate climbed for the first time in three months in September, sparked by a spike in gasoline prices and severe floods in food-producing areas.

Consumer prices index (CPI) rose to 32.7% in September from 32.2% in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement published on its website on Tuesday, October 15.

This is the first increase in three months after the country’s inflation rate declined twice in 2024.

The Bureau said: “In September 2024, the Headline inflation rate was 32.70% relative to the August 2024 headline inflation rate of 32.15%. Looking at the movement, the September 2024 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.55% compared to the August 2024 Headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 5.98% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (26.72%).

“This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in September 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., September 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, which was 0.30% higher than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.22%).

“This means that in September 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2024.”

The NBS further said: “The Food inflation rate in September 2024 was 37.77% on a year-on-year basis, 7.13% points higher than the rate recorded in September 2023 (30.64%).

“The rise in Food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of the following items: Guinea Corn, Rice, Maize, Grains, Beans, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Beer (Local and Foreign) (Tobacco Class), Lipton, Milo, Bournvita, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class) and Vegetable Oil, Palm Oil, etc (Oil & Fats Class).

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.64% which shows a 0.27% increase compared to the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.37%).

“The rise can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of Beer (Local and Foreign) (Tobacco Class), Vegetable Oil, Groundnut Oil, Palm Oil, etc (Oil & Fats Class), Beef, Gizzard, Dried Beef, etc (Meat Class), Lipton, Milo, Bournvita, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class) and Milk, Egg etc (Milk, cheese, and Eggs Class).

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending September 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 37.53%, which was an 11.88% points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in September 2023 (25.65%).”