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Africa is blessed with a growing and massive youth population. This provides opportunities and threats. Opportunities to maximise our population for economic liberation. However, this cannot happen without intentional, planned and strategically executed programmes to facilitate productive youthful participation in economic activities. In light of this, we have committed heavily to supporting the dreams of young people with a goal towards economic and social impact; towards a society that is happier, fairer, peaceful and enjoys and exudes shared prosperity.

For several months, Meristem Nigeria has been building MORE by Meristem to support the dreams of young people. We do this because we understand that productive youthful participation in economic activities is a sure way to sustain our national growth trajectory and regional significance. Also, we believe that the learning activities, mentoring sessions and pitch sessions on the MORE by Meristem platform can potentially stir young people away from counter-productive activities that mar our progress.

Interestingly, our commitment to MORE by Meristem is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial literacy and financial inclusion drive. Also, MORE by Meristem supports the achievement of SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), and 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure). Furthermore, we are aligned with the goals of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) by supporting the entrepreneurial dreams of young people.

Meristem Orientation for Rising Entrepreneurs (MORE) – is a free-to-use youth-focused investment and entrepreneurship learning platform. We are empowering the dreams of young and ambitious people by giving them access to information, knowledge, and skills that they require to bring them closer to where they want to be financially.

To kick off, we are launching two pathways – (1) Investment and (2) Entrepreneurship.

In the words of Wole Abegunde, GMD Meristem Securities Limited, ‘The goal for the investment pathway is to improve financial literacy and financial inclusion among young people, as we help to refine, support, and transform their potentials to wealth generation opportunities.’ The Investment pathway provides exposure to the nitty-gritty of investment opportunities, pitfalls, strategy, and practical tips to grow wealth. We have carefully curated learning opportunities to equip young people with knowledge and skills to practice wise investing locally and globally, and how to build a wealth portfolio and secure a bright future even for coming generations. Additionally, we have ensured that our contents are practical, easy to understand, and with lots of fun activities to inspire and guide young people’s investment journey.

For Entrepreneurship, Imaobong Asemah, Team Lead, Wealth Advisory, Meristem Wealth and Project owner has this to say- ‘we understand that many young people have a zeal for starting businesses, but zeal alone is not sufficient to survive the business terrain in Nigeria or anywhere in the world. This is why we have committed extensive resources to developing a training system for young people who want to explore their options in entrepreneurship’.

Lead Coach for MORE, Femi Oladele has this to say about the platform- ‘This platform is interactive, appealing and meets 21^st century educational needs of both GenZs and Gen Alphas. Our platform features self-paced learning resources, mentoring, and a pitch session, with two specialised tracks – start-up and scale-up. This is an extensive platform providing opportunities for business development laced with many exciting learning options.

We believe that: The MORE, the Merrier.

PROFILE OF MERISTEM SECURITIES LIMITED

Meristem Securities Limited is a capital market holding company, licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide a range of financial and capital market services.

Meristem Securities Limited is a capital market conglomerate, that provides a plethora of distinct financial services through a range of products in wealth management, stockbroking, financial advisory, trusteeship, registrars and probate management services, investment banking, lease, and loans and family office advisory. With these offerings, Meristem has continued to fulfil her promise of wealth creation, preservation, and transfer to all her clients.

Meristem has been consistent in value creation and innovation within the capital market space. In 2018, the Nigerian Stock Exchange awarded Meristem as the Best Digital Broker of the Year. In the same year, Meristem also became the first Nigerian asset management firm to become compliant with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) by the CFA Institute. Still, in 2018, Meristem received two nominations from Business Day, the Best Money Market and Equity Fund among other awards.

For over 20 years, Meristem has innovated, grown and attained the status of individuals’ preferred financial services provider. Corporations in Nigeria and across the world, through a rich history of excellent customer service, demonstrated financial services expertise, combined with an enviable workplace culture of thoroughbred professionals.