Cadbury Empower 9000 Kids Via Bournvita Boot Camp Initiative 

Omolabake Fasogbon

Cadbury Nigeria Plc, a subsidiary of Mondelez International, has unveiled outstanding participants of the yearly Tech Boot Camp since inception at a media parley held at the company’s head office in Lagos last week.

Bournvita has trained over 1,200 children since inception of the boot camp in 2019 in line with its social mission of improving literacy by preparing kids to lead with digital skills. The initiative is consistent with the brand’s efforts in collaborating with parents to help their children pursue their dreams.

One of the highlights at the event was the presentation of gift items to participants of previous and current editions of the Tech Boot Camp that had taken a step further to develop platforms that are useful in their everyday lives – Damilare Akinwoya from the 2019 edition; David Ibekwe, from the 2020 edition; Jemimah Emoedume, from the 2021 edition and Ovie Luther-Abegunde from the 2022 edition

Addressing guests at the event, the Managing Director, Cadbury West Africa, Mrs. Oyeyimika Adeboye, said: 

“The relevance of STEM in today’s world cannot be overestimated. Technology, as you know, has become a key driver for the fourth industrial revolution sweeping across the world. We want to encourage our children to learn the skills needed to be relevant in this modern technological era while they are still young. Our curriculum is intensive enough to meet real life needs and many of our graduates have proceeded to build problem solving robots, drones, and apps. Some have even won tech competitions in Nigeria and beyond.” 

Since its inception, the boot camp has provided a platform for Nigerian students, between ages 9 and 16, to study and develop skills in areas like artificial intelligence, gaming, robotics, and coding, among others, as they fulfil their STEM aspirations. 

Of the 8,466 entries received for the 2022 edition, 534 applicants were selected for the Bournvita Tech Bootcamp – a 44% increase on last year’s 370 participants 

Commenting on the brand’s role in providing everyday nourishment for children and contributing to their growth, Category Manager, Cocoa beverages & Biscuit, Cadbury West Africa, Mr. Tolulope Olaoye, said, “We believe that, not only should Bournvita give young people the vitamins and minerals needed, we must also see to their mental and physical vitality, which the tech bootcamp offers. Since we commenced this initiative in 2019, we have trained over 9,000 kids – 1,200 kids directly at the bootcamp and the others through our partnership with Codingal. We wanted to ensure that the 8,466 kids not shortlisted from the entries this year still got equipped with the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century. We remain committed to nurturing and producing the next tech experts in the country and hope that the next edition gets even better.”