ACCA to shape future financial leaders with competition

A Secondary School Finance Competition has been announced by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), a global professional accountancy association, to target young finance talent and promote financial courses and literacy to students as a gateway to professional and career success.

Thomas Isibor, Country Head of ACCA Nigeria, stated in a press conference that the competition will be held on November 4 and 18, 2023, in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, with each zone represented by ten schools.

The national winner will get a N2 million, as well as a capacity-building session for the school’s staff. The first runner-up earns N1 million, and the second runner-up receives N500,000, which will be distributed among students and teachers.

Read also: Edo public finance management reforms to get support from ACCA

Isibor said that the competition’s goals included giving students internships and building partner institutions’ capabilities in addition to helping to advance the finance and accounting fields.

“ACCA has been providing support for leaders in Nigeria and secondary school students who are future leaders in developing finance capabilities and engagement initiatives to collaborate with schools; it is important to get our children interested in finance more and create that financial awareness,” he said.

Olubukola Adewuyi, Chief Executive of Supreme Education Foundation Schools and Chairperson of the SSFC Advisory Committee said that the competition was triggered by what ACCA can do more in catching students young.

Read also: ACCA, others canvass curriculum update for improved financial reporting

“If from secondary school our children begin to find their path clearly on time, there is an assurance of what our financé’s future in Nigeria would be like.”

Adewuyi said, “I believe there is a need to catch them young and I am excited that ACCA is starting this competition early, I wish more associations will think about it. I think it is also future relevant for the students because it is a life skill that will be of good use to them.”

Read also: ACCA sees more opportunities, and fewer threats in AI development

Also speaking, Olusola Olowoyeye, the Director of The New Synergy Specialist and Chairperson of Project Delivery Committee, ACCA Secondary School Finance Competition 2023, said that organising this quiz competition was the best idea and would be sustainable and would take Nigeria to that future.

“As the chairperson of this committee, the committee will be preparing the content in terms of developing finance-related questions and current affairs questions that relate to financial matters to develop the future leaders that we are going to build,” he said.