Equity To Spend 12 Billion To Sponsor 519 Students

Equity Bank of Kenya announced that it will spend 12 billings shillings to sponsor 519 students who are studying abroad through its Equity Leadership Program (ELP).

The bank through its Wings To fly initiative has been at the forefront in sponsoring needy students academically to study both locally and internationally.

The number of students who have been sponsored this year to study in international universities is 56 with 17 of them being Alumni of the Wings to Fly program. The rest of the students were selected from their respective sub-counties through the Equity Leadership Program (ELP).

The 56 students have gained entry to Universities in the United States, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, Rwanda, Hungary, Canada, and Slovakia.

Three of the scholars will join the Prestigious Harvard University, Cornell (1), Princeton (2), University of Pennsylvania (2), Massachusetts Institute of Technology -MIT (2), Amherst (1), and John Hopkins (1).

The students also received between 100000- 200000 shillings for the air tickets and to carter for their personal needs.

Equity Bank Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi advised the scholars to focus on their studies and get ready to face hurdles along their academic journey.

“In the course of this journey, you will encounter challenges like language barriers and cultural differences. I encourage you to overcome these difficulties and embrace the new environment with courage and open-mindedness. Your host community, Equity Group, the local community as well as your parents are supporting you and expecting a lot from you. I am confident that you will make all of us proud, “Mwangi advised.

Mr. Mwangi stated that the scholars should use the challenges they face during their academic journey to grow, develop and improve their global exposure.

“The objective is to develop you, as a generation of servant leaders who will think globally; are inspired to fight poverty and the challenges on our continent; embrace sustainable development; improve our living standards and give back to society,” added Mwangi.

The ELP program was started in 1998 to help empower needy and bright students academically. It sponsors both male and female students who have scored straight “A” in their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) to study in local and global universities.

Hitherto, ELP has been able to sponsor 14,529 scholars to study both locally and internationally.

Some of the scholars are still studying while others are Alumni of various renown institutions. Some of the scholars usually jet back to Kenya to spend their holidays trying to mentor other students on leadership skills and how to make applications to various universities.