ASYV team of winners pose with the top award
Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) Secondary School students has finally emerged as winners of the Money Makeover Challenge finals which focused on financial management in the Rwandan society.
The Money Makeover Challenge is a pioneering financial literacy initiative designed to equip students with essential financial skills. Organized in partnership by iDebate Rwanda and Bank of Kigali (BK) Foundation, the program empowers young minds with the knowledge, creativity, and confidence needed to navigate and succeed in today’s financial landscape.
The core objective of the Money Makeover Challenge is to enhance financial literacy among students by encouraging them to create and present practical solutions to real-world financial challenges. Through active participation, students gain valuable insights into financial management, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The second round of finals and awards ceremony this year, was held on November 16, 2024 at Norrsken House Kigali, hosted by iDebate Rwanda in partnership with the BK Foundation as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to increase financial literacy among young Rwandans.
The first round of this year’s iDebate competitions held in June 2024, was scooped by Stella Matutina Secondary School who beat the nine competitors including Agahozo-Shalom to walk away with Rwf900,000.
While College Sainte Marie Reine Kabgayi, which came second, also received a trophy and Rwf450,000; and other schools that participated also received Rwf50,000 each, certificates and BK Foundation branded T- shirts.
This time around, Agahozo-Shalom team of three debaters was among the ten finalists who were selected out of the 20 schools for this November edition of the debate series that showcased creativity and financial literacy skills of young Rwandan students as they presented innovative solutions to real-life financial challenges.
Other schools that reached the finals were: Lycée Notre-Dame de Cîteaux, Hope Haven, IFAK, Saint Marie Reine-Kabgayi, Cornerstone, Lycée de Nyanza, Glory Academy, Kivu Hills, and Lycée de Rusumo.
The above schools were presented a financial challenge proposition to solve and come up with possible solutions in a case of a husband who earns Rwf50,000 per month, while his wife has no steady monthly income.
The participating students showed a growing understanding of financial concepts, as well as their creativity, problem-solving abilities, and entrepreneurial potential in their project presentations.
Hope Haven school team receiving a prize of Rwf450,000.
Agahozo-Shalom beat the challenge with debate project concepts which earned them the top prize of Rwf900,000; followed by Hope Haven school with a prize of Rwf450,000.
The third position was taken by Glory Academy, Saint Marie Reine-Kabgayi, and Lycée Notre-Dame de Cîteaux came in fourth and fifth respectively.
All other finalists received certificate of participation, Rwf50,000 each and were offered a free capital markets shares account with BK Capital, to enable them save for the future.
Students who participated in this challenge said that it enabled them to learn new aspects about money, their future lives, and financial management.
“It is obvious that students don’t have money but learning how to manage it is an opportunity that many people don’t have. Therefore, the debate prepares us to manage money in the future, once we start earning,” said Dorcas Ibyishaka, a Senior 5 student at ASYV.
Deborah Karegeya, a Senior 5 student at Hope Haven said that such events are necessary for youth to learn to start saving earlier because most of them think that savings are for adults and done when grown up.
iDebate Rwanda Program Coordinator, Ketsia Keza
Since the iDebate competitions started in 2012, they have helped the participants to become more knowledgeable, confident and eloquent in public speaking, and won top debate awards at the regional and continental levels (in 2017 and 2019).
Building on the success of the first cohort, which trained 300 students from 10 schools, this second cohort has expanded to train 600 students across various schools. Each school is represented by a team of three students.
iDebate Rwanda Program Coordinator, Ketsia Keza said that the debate impacted on the direct participants but the lessons learnt go beyond participation to transforming the financial mindset of youth in participating schools and others.
Ingrid Karangwayire
BK Foundation Secretary General, Ingrid Karangwayire said that the foundation will support the finalists to save for a year so that by the time they complete school, they will count the interest of 10.3% made on savings under the Aguka product in BK Capital.
“After one year, they can withdraw the money but the point here is to show them that saving on the stock markets can change their lives. So, you can imagine how much profit they will have made in the next ten years,” Karangwayire said.
