United Capital Plc, one of Africa’s foremost investment banks and financial services institutions announced Pharez Obioha, an 11-year-old boy as its first-ever one-day chief executive under the ‘A Day as CEO’ initiative coming on the heels of its successful back-to-school 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.
According to Peter Ashade, the group chief executive officer at United Capital Plc speaking at the event, “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.”
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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 the uptake of the investment product.
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 an 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.
United Capital Plc is a leading Pan-African financial and investment services group, providing bespoke value-added services to its clients. The firm is positioned to play a strategic role in helping African governments, corporates, and individuals achieve their strategic objectives, through a robust suite of financial and investment service offerings by our Group companies across Investment Banking, Asset & Wealth Management, Trusteeship, Securities Trading and Consumer Finance. The Group is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Nigeria.
