Budget Speech Competition winners announced by Nedbank & Old Mutual - Student from the North West University wins prestigious Budget Speech competition
Linda Dingiswayo, a post-graduate student from the North West University walked off with top honours and prize money of R150 000 in the 35th Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition.
Attended by the Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, the winners in two categories were announced from a total of 22 finalists at a Cape Town gala function hosted last night (Wednesday, 20 Feb 2008) by co-sponsors of the competition, Nedbank and Old Mutual.
Runner-up in the category for post-graduates, Nicolas Anjinho, a student from the University of Witwatersrand, received R60 000. The third prize of R25 000 went to Olga Kerimova from the University of Cape Town.
In the category for under-graduates, Frances Spies, a student from the University of Stellenbosch, was awarded the first prize of R30 000. Runner-up in this category, David Ambler from the University of Fort Hare – East London Campus received R15 000. Joint third place went to Sherwin Gabriel from the University of Pretoria and Zimkhita Tsotso from the University of Fort Hare each receiving R10 000.
Speaking at the function, Chief Executive for Nedbank, Tom Boardman, said that the competition is a great way to encourage innovative thinkers in the field of economics. “The banking industry needs graduates who are keen to apply their minds to South Africa’s special socio-economic circumstances and come up with constructive solutions.
“From the students’ perspective, it’s also an excellent way to get noticed by people who care about the future prosperity of the people in this country and are in a position to help make it happen,” he said.
Thabo Dloti, MD for OMIGSA, saluted all the finalists saying that although there could only be one winner in each category, they were all winners. He commended them on having made the effort to participate and applauded them for the outstanding manner in which they played the ‘game’.
Dloti continued: “We at Old Mutual and Nedbank have been proud sponsors of this event since the mid-seventies and we will continue to do so in our quest for growth and socio-economic transformation in this country. As such, this competition also aims to discover new economic leaders who have a sincere passion for economics and who can take care of our country’s future.”
The competition aims to grow economic excellence in South Africa by promoting the principles of sustainable economic development, developing future leaders in economics, making young South Africans excited about economics as a subject and career path and lastly, by providing students with an opportunity to establish contact with key players in the financial world.
Competition background: Introduced in 1972, the annual Budget Speech competition targets economic students from all recognised South African universities. Under- and postgraduate economics students can participate by submitting an essay replying to set number of questions. From these essays, a panel of adjudicators, comprising representatives from Old Mutual, Nedbank, National Treasury and the business sector, choose the top undergraduate and top postgraduate finalists.
Students wishing to participate in this year’s competition, can contact the Budget Speech Competition adminstration offices on 021-858-1739, or send an email to [email protected]
