Congratulations to Ivorian alumnus Daryl Adopo ‘14 who recently took home the 2020-2021 Outstanding Finance Student Award. This is one of the highest academic distinctions in the Economics, Finance, and Insurance & Risk Management Department at the University of Central Arkansas, USA.
The honour is awarded to the student who not only achieves an impressive GPA, but also makes a meaningful contribution to their department and school community. For Daryl, this recognition came by way of his role as a research assistant to one of his professors. Since 2019, the pair has completed multiple research papers together. In fact, one of these papers, which explored the factors contributing to the adoption of electronic payments in China, was presented at a recent international business discipline conference. He is also a peer coach, a role that sees him help new students access academic resources and navigate life on campus.
Born to two engineers, Daryl and his younger brother grew up in a home that emphasised the importance of and prioritised education. His parents expected nothing short of academic excellence for their children and
excel, he did. Upon hearing about African Leadership Academy (ALA), its unique curriculum and post graduation support offered, Daryl was accepted into the 2013 class. His enrollment, due to his very young age, was deferred by a year. Once he started his ALA journey, speaking very little English (admittedly he was a better reader than speaker), he once again excelled in subjects he enjoyed most: Economics, Mathematics and Physics.
Following his graduation, Daryl journeyed back home to complete a two year internship at Enko Education in Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire. It is during this period that he gained direction and confidence in pursuing his current qualification, a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree majoring in Finance. He recalls, “I worked as an administrative assistant. My time there really helped me develop administrative, communication and analytical skills through the various tasks I was assigned. Since I was already interested in Maths and Science combining the two, administration and the analytical subjects I enjoyed throughout school, I was led to my current degree”.
Daryl has a deep love for his country and plans to return home to work as a financial analyst and hopes to assume this role at a financial institution in Africa such as the African Development Bank. Before then and upon graduating from his BBA, he plans to enrol for a Master of Science in Economic Analytics degree.
“I really enjoy working with and analyzing data and numbers, in general. I want to continue my education. And after having gained experience in my field, return to help develop financial markets in Cote D’Ivoire.”
Keep shining, Daryl!
