Fresh graduates serving under the National Youth Service Scheme ( NYSC) across 12 States have commended Polaris Bank for enhancing their digital literacy skills and preparing them for the emerging opportunities in Nigeria’s digital economy.
Polaris Bank, in partnership with the NYSC and NerdzFactory, had in November 2022 commenced a high-impact capacity-building workshop on digital skills targeted at 5,000 National Youth Service Corps members across 12 states in Nigeria.
The 6-month training program aims to equip fresh graduates with the necessary skills to thrive.
Providing a progress report on the initiative, Polaris Bank’s Group Head, Strategic Brand Management, Nduneche Ezurike said that the programme aims to equip young Nigerians with relevant work-ready digital skills on innovation, creativity and digital skills, as well as develop their business acumen.
He further noted that “the Bank understands the importance of digital literacy in today’s job market. That’s why we are committed to helping fresh graduates improve their skills through our training program. We believe that by doing so, we are helping them succeed in their careers and contributing to the growth and development of the national economy as a whole.”
Commending the programme, Halimah Usman noted: “I am grateful to the Bank for providing me with the opportunity to improve my digital skills through their training programme. The skills I have acquired will help me secure a job in the digital marketing industry, and I am confident that with these skills, I will be able to succeed in my career.”
Eze Obioma, another Corps member participating in the training, said: “The Bank’s training programme is a step in the right direction, and it is hoped that other organizations will follow suit in helping fresh graduates develop the digital skills they need to succeed in their careers”.
Another participant, Ajayi Adeyemi, added, “The trainers were very supportive, and they made the training programme very engaging. I enjoyed every bit of it and learned a lot of valuable skills that will help me in my future career.”
The high-impact training, which is running across two quarters, comprises courses such as; basic digital literacy; cyber security; data science; product design; software development (back end); product management; blockchain technology; mobile app development; 3D and virtual reality; and software development (front end).
Polaris Bank has recently earned accolades as a leading financial brand in innovation and digitization. The Bank was adjudged Digital Bank of the Year in 2021 and 2022 in BusinessDay’s Banks And Other Financial Institutions Award (BAFI). It also emerged as the best MSME Bank because of its ability to use technology to enable bottom-up support to the MSME sector.