The underway 8th edition of Capital Market University Challenge has gone full digital as all registered students will compete through the digital platform accessible through http://investor.cma.rw.

According to Magnifique Migisha, the Capital Market Authority’s Public Relations Officer, over 1,000 students have registered for the Capital Market #UniChallenge21.

He said that the competition framework will involve both a set of quizzes and a topic for essay writing, done online, aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge among students about the capital market industry and the variety of opportunities it offers.

"For those to compete under the Quiz category, there will be a set of three rounds of tests. Those who will succeed in the first round will go for the 2nd round, and those who succeed will go for the finals,” he explained.

All registered students will sit for round 1 quiz category on May 25 between 10am-5pm through investor.cma.rw and the round of quizzes has to take 20 minutes.

For potential contestants, after creating an account via http://investor.cma.rw/cmuc/login/index.php, they will wait for the Quiz or Essay to be uploaded in the system and be communicated once ready.

Round 2 for the competition for the Quiz category will take place on May 28 and Round 3 on June 1.

All contestants shall submit their final essays on June 2 as judges are supposed to submit all marks for the essay category on June 6 ahead of virtual awarding of winners on June 8.

For those to compete under the Essay category, they will submit the final essays in the system under the theme "Why should the youth consider saving and investing in the capital market at an early age”.

According to the competition rules, the essay should be original and innovative and have not more than 800 words.

Copy and pasting information from websites will amount to plagiarism, punishable by discontinuation from the Challenge, explain the rules.

Awards will be available to the winners of both the quiz category and essay category in the form of securities i.e shares and bonds listed at the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) as a way to initiate students on the culture of saving and investing through the capital market in a more practical and lively manner.

"This is to create awareness and increase knowledge among students in universities and higher learning institutions on the importance and benefits of saving and investing through the capital market. It will also promote the creation of savings clubs/groups among students in these institutions,” Migisha said.

The initiative is expected to provide capacity building training to establish saving clubs on how best to run their clubs and how to save and invest through the local capital market.

"We expose the students to saving and investment opportunities offered by the capital market and prepare them as future investors and professionals of the capital market industry,” he said.

University students who were awarded in the previous Capital Market University Challenge have managed to create jobs and continued to save through the capital market.

A group of six students who took part in the Capital Market University Challenge while still at university in 2017 in University of Rwanda-Huye campus have now formed a company thanks to the Rwf1.1 million prize that helped them to save through capital market in Bank of Kigali and

I&M Bank listed on Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE).

Dubbed "Reliable Immense Company Ltd”, the company provides practical professional training on computer programmes and software for capacity building.

Théogène Kubahoniyezu, who is part of the group and was among the three that contested in the quiz category, said that he also managed to start his own stationary company in Rusizi district apart from being a shareholder in "Reliable Immense Company Ltd.