22 June 2011
More than 100 secondary school students will have an opportunity to be bankers for a day as part of Barclays Bank of Kenya’s annual job shadow programme.
The students from Lenana School, Huruma Girls School, Dandora Secondary School, Utumishi Boys (Gilgil), Mama Ngina Secondary (Mombasa) and St. Mary’s Girls (Kakamega), amongst others, will be at Barclays branches and offices across the country in conjunction with the programme organized by Junior Achievement.
Mr. Mohamed said the new branch was in response to customer feedback requesting additional banking services to support the growing number of clients who subscribe to the Islamic faith.
Welcoming the students, Barclays Chief Financial Officer, Yusuf Omari said the job shadow programme dubbed “You can b” is part of Barclays Ksh240 million (US$ 3 million) initiative with Junior Achievement.
“You can b” focuses on areas of entrepreneurship and work-readiness for the youth, with Barclays Kenya already having invested Ksh2.4 million (US$30,000).
Mr. Omari said, “Our youth empowerment strategy aligns with the country’s Vision 2030 goal of achieving middle income status through nurturing the economic potential of all Kenyans. We are giving our students a chance to learn entrepreneurship and business skills to help them compete effectively in the new global economy.”
The students have the opportunity to gain first-hand exposure to how banks operate as they visit different departments and interact with Barclays employees at the head office and the branch level.
Mr. Omari observed, “Imparting entrepreneurial skills among the youth sits well with our Citizenship agenda, which focuses on financial inclusion and financial independence as key pillars. Our goal is to create opportunities for the youth to acquire business skills and knowledge necessary to be productive for their families and ultimately in various sectors of the economy.”
Besides Kenya, the other countries Barclays sponsors JA “You can b” programmes are Botswana, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Russia, Egypt, India and United Arab Emirates.
