Ecobank seals deal to serve Ngaoundere varsity community.

Prof Mamoudou said the deal formalises a relationship that had been in existence for years with an Ecobank branch on the University’s campus.

Speaking at the event, Gwendoline Abunaw, said the agreement represents an expansion of the Bank's engagement with the higher education sector beyond its earlier focus on students.

“We started this exercise more than 10 years ago,” Abunaw said, explaining that Ecobank's university strategy had initially focused largely on helping students develop early relationships with banking and savings.

She said the Bank has since broadened its approach to cover the entire university ecosystem. Abunaw said this concerns mostly students, lecturers, professors and administrative personnel.

“This is not a convention of financing focused on giving four parties to students,” she said. The Ecobank MD stressed that the partnership incorporates a wider range of products and services designed around the needs of the university community.

Abunaw stated that under the agreement, Ecobank will provide tailored banking solutions to the university, its constituent institutions, students, academic staff and administrative personnel.

She added that the partnership also provides for financial literacy, entrepreneurship, innovation and skills-development initiatives.

Digital payments made possible 

Going by her, the partnership will also see the modernisation and digitalisation of financial transactions within the university environment. 

Students and their parents, she noted, will be able to pay tuition and other university fees remotely through digital channels, reducing the need to queue at bank counters.

The immediate provision of electronic receipts, improvements in monitoring of payments and reduce the risks associated with cash handling, she indicated are other gains that will come with the deal.

The Ecobank Cameroon boss further noted that students will also have access to its digital banking platforms, including the Ecobank Mobile application and Ecobank Online.

This way, she said, students will monitor their accounts, receive transaction alerts and make transfers remotely.

Career engagements

Abunaw said the partnership also responds to the need for universities to strengthen their technological capacity and adapt to an increasingly digital economy. She also highlighted professional exposure as another area of cooperation.

“Students need to have professional internships. Sometimes they just need to hear or speak with a professional that can give them orientation on how they should go about their studies and the type of career they should be looking forward to when they come out of school,” Abunwa stated.

Ecobank, the bank executive noted, intends to contribute professional expertise, mentorship and exposure to the university community, while supporting innovation and digital initiatives.

Beyond banking

The Ecobank MD insisted that the Bank's contribution should not be interpreted as a promise to provide jobs to students upon graduation.

Rather, she said, the objective is to help strengthen the university, improve access to financial services, support digital transformation and prepare students to face the labour market.

She said the Bank also sees the partnership as an investment in the country's future workforce. “When education advances, the whole of Cameroon moves forward,” Ecobank MD noted 

University seeks stronger industry links

The Rector of the University of Ngaoundere, Prof Mamoudou Abdoulmoumini, described the agreement as the formalisation of an existing relationship between the two institutions.

He said Ecobank's presence on the university campus had helped bring banking services closer to students and the wider university community.

“The signing of the convention today gives an official, formal and structured framework to a relationship that already existed in practice,” the Rector said.

He said the university expects the partnership to open new perspectives in training, innovation and professional development.

Prof Mamoudou stated that his greatest expectation is to forge stronger interaction between academic training and the professional world. 

The rector noted that this would be through internships, professional exchanges and exposure to the banking sector.

The University, he disclosed, is also seeking support for students and innovative projects, especially access to financial services and potential financing opportunities.

The Rector said the institution's objective is to strengthen the bridge between academic knowledge and professional requirements.

This, he stated, is to ensure graduates are better prepared for employment and entrepreneurship.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3925 of Wednesday September 30, 2026