The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation on Tuesday presented 2000 copies of literature books to the Accra High Senior School in Accra as part of its Read Africa initiative.

Read Africa is an initiative of UBA Foundation geared at rekindling the dwindling reading culture amongst African youths.

Presenting the copies of the African Literature book authored by Nigerian prolific author Chigozie Obioma and titled ‘The Fishermen’ to the authorities of the Accra High School to be distributed to the students, the Acting CEO, UBA Foundation, Madam Bola Atta said the gesture would help instill the culture of reading among students in the school.

She said it is through reading that individuals gain greater understanding, which in turn leads to better insight and solution to challenges. Madam Atta who is also the UBA Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications encouraged the students that; “reading enhances your vocabularies and improves your creative skills”.

She said it is not only giving back to the society that matters but also creating a dynamic educational platform for the future generations of the country.

According to Madam Atta, the ‘Read Africa’ initiative where the Bank gives literature books is one of the flagship activities that encourages young people to not only read books of all kinds, but also explore and shape their own narratives.

She implored young people to read widely and voraciously to enable them develop their future. “Knowledge and pursuit should be a lifelong activity that continues to enrich one’s life,” she added.

She expressed the hope that the initiative would continue to grow in scope and impact, influencing the lives of all those involved in its activities. The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA Ghana, Mrs. Abiola Bawuah advised the students to pay attention to their books. “Don’t spend your time on mobile phones rather spend it on your books”, she stated.

An Assistant Headmaster of the Accra High School in-charge of Academics, Michael Addo commended the UBA Foundation for coming to their aid. Mr Addo encouraged the students to take reading seriously, since the Bank has invested heavily in acquiring these educational materials. He assured the management of the Bank that the presentation would reflect on the performance of the students.

The UBA Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the UBA Plc and for the past five years, the UBA Ghana has been supplying literature books written by African writers to a number of senior high schools with the ultimate aim of improving both written and verbal communication in English.

Under initiative, the Foundation is expected to distribute literature books to secondary school students in Africa and holds mentoring sessions with them regularly. So far, over 14o,000 literature books have been distributed under the initiative.

In conjunction with the initiative, the Bank has successfully implemented the National Essay writing competition for senior high schools in Ghana and other parts of Africa. The next essay competition will be held in September, this year.