October 29, 2019
By Ibrahim Tarawallie
Ecobank has supported six young adventurers from Nigeria to embark on a road trip code named ‘Jollof road’ across the West African sub-region exploring things being shared in common.
Few weeks ago, the Zikoko team commenced the eighty days trip to fourteen West African countries, to find and show roads that connect West Africans and celebrate all the similarities and differences along the Jollof road.
They have so far spent thirty-four days on the road visiting Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, capturing stories about music, food, fashion and even colonial legacy.
While in Sierra Leone last week, they had the opportunity of sharing their experiences on what they have gathered so far in the countries visited, as well as their expectations for the trip at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown.
They stated that the trip has been interesting so far with warm reception from countries visited and lots of things documented.
In her brief statement, Managing Director of Ecobank Sierra Leone, Mrs. L. Aina Moore said: “We are very excited to partner with you as you try to find the Jollof route just like our forefathers. The Jollof route and the Ecobank journey are similar. We want to welcome you to Serra Lone.”
She said they hope to use the young adventurers to help sell their products because as they move from country to country, they will have to test and get to know that when they said they are a regional bank, they can see it.
“We believe in supporting young adventurous people because young people 40 years ago decided to establish a pan African bank. We will not say we can’t support them because we are natural partners,” she said.
She noted that they will use such opportunity to showcase every country they visit and serve as ambassadors of Africa.
Ms. Moore added that the trip is not only about changing the stories of war, crime and disease but having young people discovering their land on their own terms.
Leader of the team, Fouad Lawal said: “We name the trip Jollof because it is one thing that all countries in the ECOWAS sub region has in common. This s a series of stories about West Africa and what it means to be West Africans. We are exploring to ask the question what else we have apart from Jollof. Our goal is to find as many ways we have alike as countries. Ecobank has been a solid partner in the payment aspect of our trip.”