Ghana’s Financial Literacy Campaign Launched. Full Details Here

The Ministry of Finance in a joint effort with the World Bank, Bank of Ghana, and other financial organizations, has launched the National Financial Education Campaign Programme.

Since the current state of the country’s economic and financial sector highlights the need for a more timely and all-encompassing financial education program that teaches about the obvious problems in the financial sector, the program’s primary goal is to improve Ghanaians’ financial capabilities and encourage responsible financial behavior.

There were representatives from the World Bank, Bank of Ghana, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Pensions Regulatory Authority, National Insurance Commission, and the Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network.

In her keynote address, Deputy Finance Minister Madam Abena Osei-Asare praised the World Bank for its ongoing support of Ghana’s economic development and sponsorship of the National Financial Education Campaign.

She revealed that, many Ghanaians lacked the basic understanding of key financial issues such as the impact of inflation on the value of their money, computation of interest on loans and investments, awareness and use of financial products and services among other things. This, she noted had made it difficult for them to make any informed financial decision.

“Indeed, financial capability of consumers is a major component to building a strong and resilient economy. Without this, many people will resort to the old and unsecured ways of handling monies, such as keeping monies under pillows and mattresses,” she said.

The structure of the financial education campaign allows for radio and TV discussions, public fora, townhall engagements, and social media campaign. Different educational materials have been developed and translated from English into eleven (11) local languages, namely, Ga, Akwapim Twi, Asante Twi, Ewe, Sefwi, Nzema, Dagomba, Dagaare, Kusaal, Mamprugu and Gonja.

The Ghanaian financial sector remained resilient despite the major impact of global pandemic shocks and the domestic debt exchange program, according to the Deputy Minister, who is also a Member of Parliament for Atiwa East. Additionally, the Monetary Policy Committee mentioned the banking industry’s relative stability in its most recent release despite recording losses from the Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP).

‘Ghanaians Are Just Vulnerable To Propaganda’

She advised the media to carefully evaluate financial institution-advertised products before promoting them. She added that advertisements for financial products and services on radio and television had a significant impact on people.

Mr. Sampson Akligoh, Director of the Ministry’s Financial Sector Division, greeted participants on behalf of Dr. Patrick Nomo, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, and mentioned that financial sector regulators and industry associations worked together to design the campaign.

He stated that some financial institutions were operating illegally in the country despite not having the necessary licenses to offer financial services to the general public.

This, he lamented had brought about loss of monies (deposits and investments) of numerous families and business as these institutions dashed with the monies of their depositors and investors.

“To prevent a full-blown financial crisis, the Government through the financial sector regulators between 2017 and 2019 embarked on a comprehensive reform agenda with the aim of ridding the financial sector off illegal, illiquid and insolvent financial institutions as well as to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory framework of the sector”, Dr Nomo said.

He ended by urging the general public to check that the financial institutions they want to work with had the appropriate licenses and were operating under the supervision of regulatory agencies.

There were fortitude messages from partners including the Bank of Ghana, Securities and Exchange Commission and National Insurance Commission.

The Campaign is scheduled to be conducted in all the sixteen (16) regions of Ghana and predominantly target the informal sector and youth groups.