The Alternative Bank Unveils Practical Support For Northern Schools

Northern Nigeria’s education gap will not close through speeches alone. Schools need trained teachers, better learning tools, functioning payment systems, and funding to keep classrooms open. The Alternative Bank (‘AltBank’) took that message to the maiden All Northern Schools Conference (ANSC) 2026 in Kano, where it reaffirmed its commitment to advancing education, financial inclusion, and human capital development across the region.

The three-day conference convened school owners, education leaders, policymakers, regulators, traditional rulers, and development partners from across the 19 Northern states, under the theme ‘Repositioning Northern Schools for Innovation, Sustainability and Impact.’

Convened by Dr Hadiza Nuhu Yusuf Baba, president of Intercontinental Private Schools, Kano, in partnership with TeamMasters Limited, the event served as a platform to equip school administrators and teachers with modern leadership and teaching tools.

In his goodwill message, executive director, Commercial and Institutional Banking (Middle, South, and East) at The Alternative Bank, Garba Mohammed, commended the collaborative efforts of the organisers and the Kano State government, and pledged the Bank’s commitment to expanding access to formal education so that every child is equipped for the future.

“Northern schools do not need sympathy. They need tools, finance, trained teachers, and partners who stay after the conference ends,” said Mohammed, represented at the event by the regional business executive for Commercial and Institutional Banking (North-West 1), Muhammad Danbichi.

“We can no longer rely solely on traditional methods to prepare our children for the demands of the future. Repositioning our schools means embracing technology and ensuring our educational institutions are not just surviving, but thriving and making a real, lasting impact on society.”

The Bank outlined three pillars through which it is strengthening the educational ecosystem: deploying innovative technology to improve reading and numeracy outcomes in the early grades, empowering educators to deliver inclusive, experiential 21st-century learning, and promoting literacy and knowledge access across communities.

Northern Nigeria continues to account for a significant proportion of the country’s out-of-school children, with persistent challenges around learning outcomes, educational financing, teacher capacity, and access to modern learning infrastructure. AltBank is actively addressing these gaps through practical, early-grade, and gender-focused educational initiatives across both public and private schools. Through its support for the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) in Sokoto State, the Bank has reached 21,726 adolescent girls across 10 Local Government Areas.

AltBank also showcased a suite of solutions for the education sector. Free Point-of-Sale terminals are being deployed to participating schools to modernise tuition collection and bring payments into the formal digital system. EduFund provides families with transparent, non-interest payment plans that keep learning uninterrupted from primary school through postgraduate studies. School administrators and teachers can also access AltMobile and AltPro for flexible digital banking, as well as AltMall, a platform designed to simplify the procurement of teaching aids and classroom resources.

Mohammed said education remains one of the most powerful investments any nation can make. “At The Alternative Bank, we are financing the deployment of specialised educational technology designed to improve early-grade reading and numeracy. Every child we help keep in school strengthens the future of this region.”

The event featured a keynote address by His Excellency, Senator Liyel Imoke, former Governor of Cross River, alongside contributions from senior officials of the Kano State government, including representatives of the State Ministry of Education and the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

AltBank’s participation at ANSC 2026 advances the education pillar of its HEART Strategy, a long-term impact framework spanning Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Technology. Under this pillar, the Bank has trained hundreds of frontline teachers through its partnership with the Busayo Ademuyiwa Foundation and reached students across all six geopolitical zones through AltInstitute, its proprietary learning and certification platform.