SEDCO’s Riyali program boon for youth

In conclusion of the first phase of SEDCO Holding’s Riyali program, which was launched in September as a flagship CSR model to address the needs of educating Saudi youth in financial literacy, a substantial percentage of participating college students have praised the program for increasing their knowledge and perceptions concerning finance.
The program has shown great results in its pilot phase with 700 students in 4 universities having benefitted from the program which was run entirely by volunteers.
Riyali is customized to fit the needs of Saudi youth and is based on and backed by Kingdomwide research. SEDCO partnered with Operation HOPE, a global social empowerment non-profit organization specializing in financial literacy education, in designing the curriculum. Results from a Kingdowide pre-program survey carried out by SEDCO on 1,000 young Saudi nationals to determine the market needs show that only 11 percent of participants between the ages of 18-35 keep track of their spending; although 75 percent thought they understood the basics of money management. “This data supports the critical need for financial literacy education in the Kingdom and is a testament to how volunteers who spend only a few hours of their time each day can be a positive force in transforming society for generations to come,” Abdulwahab Abed, an ambassador of the program said.
Commenting on Riyali, Anas Qadi, a student at KAU said: "The program was very useful and truly helped me understand what the term of financial awareness means."
Voicing his views on the importance of CSR and the Riyali program, Amr Banaja, VP of Corporate Communications and Marketing, said: "The latest Riyali program is a prime example of how we have been successful in constructing a main pillar in supporting community youth initiatives aimed at improving future generations.”
The Riyali sessions during the pilot phase were held in Dar Al Hekma, Effat University, University of Business and Technology (UBT) and King Abdul Aziz University.