Sterling Bank is dedicating approximately N50 billion in financing to bolster the growth of Nigeria’s education infrastructure, aiming to enhance the sector’s productivity and its role in the nation’s economy.
Obinna Ukachukwu, Divisional Head of Business Growth and Transaction Banking at Sterling Bank, announced this allocation in Lagos. The bank aims to invest in high-demand courses and professions that yield sustainable income for individuals and the economy.
The bank’s emphasis lies on professions facilitating productive contributions to communities and the nation. The focus on sectors with strong demand in both public and private sectors aims to hasten the transition from graduation to productivity.
According to him, “We will support the infrastructural development needed to produce skilled labour in specific sectors of interest. Most sectors broadly cover health, and public goods and services like utilities, power, water, and waste management, among others. 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 the universities.
“This way our universities will become more focused on clear curriculums that lead to developing such skilled manpower; this is the kind of value-chain Sterling Bank will back, as it will produce a lot of graduates who will get jobs that will, in turn, create more value to sustain the initiatives.”
Ukachukwu said it is important to focus on building professions that can solve Nigeria’s problems rather than pursuing grandiose projects with little applicability to society or the economy.
He also highlighted that seeking foreign investments for the Nigerian education sector might not be the most pragmatic route, as domestic investment holds the potential to effectively address the funding shortfall for development.
The Divisional Head also discussed the bank’s recent endeavors in tackling the disparity between academic and industry value. Sterling Bank launched the nation’s inaugural student loan program in software engineering, focusing on areas where graduates can readily secure employment after completing their studies.
He shared that the bank introduced a nine-month software engineering diploma program, with tuition fees ranging from N3 million to N3.5 million per student.
He posited that “there is a disconnect between obtaining a degree and achieving a fulfilling life, which poses a significant challenge in Nigeria’s education sector. Investment in the education space would be meaningless until this gap is addressed.”
