Board Director at Equity Group Foundation (EGF), Sam Bwaya has urged Equity Leaders Program (ELP) scholars to harness innovation and technology to drive positive change in their lives and communities. Addressing 40 exceptional university students at the week-long transformative training and mentorship program at the Equity Bank Innovation Hub in Ntinda, Bwaya encouraged the young leaders to stand out and provide technological solutions to evolving life challenges and needs.
“The journey of innovation never ends straight, but as the adage goes, a bend in the road doesn’t mean the end of the road. The world is where it is today because of innovation that has spurred development by people who have seen the bend in the road,” said Bwaya.
The students engaged in app development, solving technology challenges, and exchanging groundbreaking ideas during the training. Following the initial training, the scholars will join 400 other ELP scholars from across the region in Kenya for further incubation training, expanding their knowledge and providing invaluable insights into the tech industry.
The launch of the Equity Group Innovation Hub is pivotal, as Equity Group spearheads the transformative Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP) to digitize value chains for 100 million customers. The initiative requires a pool of skilled technical talent and innovators.
Established in 1998, the Equity Leaders Program (ELP) is a rigorous leadership development initiative for top-performing students, benefiting over 24,000 scholars across the East Africa region. Its goal is to create a community of transformative leaders who work together across borders and various sectors to drive sustainable economic growth and social progress in Africa.
The program also aims to empower young, academically gifted scholars by supporting their access to education in global universities. ELP has sent five scholars from Uganda and over 900 scholars from other Equity Group subsidiaries to prestigious universities such as MIT, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton.