Stanbic Investments sponsors graduates internship

Staff Writer | Wednesday June 27, 2007 00:00

 

The two, 23-year-old Kushatha Chilisa and 22-year-old Thato Gaebepe, are being sponsored by Stanbic Investments Botswana for 12 months, but will not have to join the company on completion of the attachment.

The chief executive officer for Stanbic Investments Botswana, Leina Gabaraane, says they have embraced Governments call for public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Stanbic Investments is an investment arm of Stanbic Bank Botswana.

The interns will be paid a salary during their stay in South Africa and will be given two return tickets to Botswana, said Gabaraane at a brief ceremony at the Stanbic Boardroom at the Gaborone International Fairgrounds during which the Minister of Education presented the two interns with their attachment contracts on Monday.

Stanbic Investments chose skills transfer in the finance discipline because of the recognition of skills shortage in the area; the programme should also fill the skills gap in the financial services sector.

As one of Botswanas fastest growing asset management companies, we are constantly faced with the issue of skills shortage in the financial services sector, Gabaraane says.

Consequently, our social responsibility programme has always hinged on skills development in the financial services space.

While in Johannesburg, the two will work with some of the regions best investment professionals.

The two beat others after an evaluation of 600 entries from Batswana graduates following a response to a press advertisement. They were asked to do some research and make a presentation.

Gabaraane says the large turnout bears testimony to (a) high interest in the investment management sector.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Education Jacob Nkate says it was good to see a bank doing corporate social responsibility.

Nkate says most people are still in a haze regarding investment terminology like bonds - and even the Botswana International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) - and a layman cannot say what they are in public.

Chilisa is a graduate of Economics and Finance from the RMIT University in Australia while Gaebepe is a graduate of Finance from the University of Botswana (UB).  Stanbic Investments currently runs bi-annual free trustee training workshops for trustees of various pension funds, which Gabaraane says comes as a result of the recognition of the need to have informed trustees. The company has also launched The Stanbic Best Student In Finance Prize as an effort to encourage Batswana students to excel in the subject of finance.