The government and other pertinent financial authorities have been urged to establish a dedicated tertiary-level financial literacy course, designed with the intent of equipping the younger generation with comprehensive fiscal knowledge and practical skills.
During the Financial Prosperity Summit held in Kumasi, experts expressed their lamentation over Ghana’s discouraging 32 percent score in the Global Financial Literacy Survey, a standing that places the country within the category of nations exhibiting one of the lowest financial literacy rates, highlighting a pressing need for enhanced financial education and awareness initiatives.
That explains a large section of the population lacks fundamental financial skills like budgeting, investing, managing debt and revenue.
Individuals who have little knowledge of financial management are susceptible to making ill-informed decisions that can implicate their financial stability.
About 80% of Ghanaians are financially uneducated, according to the National Strategy for Financial Literacy Education and Consumer Protection.
With the global economy evolving, financial knowledge has been acknowledged as necessary for personal economic growth.
Managing Director of EDC Investments Limited, Paul Kofi Mante, speaking at Financial Prosperity Summit 2023 advocated the inclusion of financial literacy as a mandatory course in universities.
“The issue of money is not taught in school so a lot of people go through school, and are highly educated but they are financially illiterate. So I think the students will do a good job learning how to plan their finances and their future. It is my strong recommendation that we implement it across our universities. Anybody who goes through a University education must have some financial literacy.
“It must be a compulsory course that anybody must go through so they learn the basic things about money management because money is everybody’s business. It doesn’t matter whether you are training to become a medical doctor or an architect or an engineer, money is everybody’s business. It’s my strong recommendation that we think about implementing this across our universities,” he said.
The summit was on the theme: “Building our Financial Future” by the Students’ Representative Council in collaboration with the Accounting Student Association of the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED).
The event assembled financial experts to equip students with wealth management tricks to succeed in an increasingly complex financial world.
AAMUSTED’s SRC President, Stephen Sika-Wiafe, explained the summit will bridge the finance knowledge gap among students.
“We realized that there are so many ways to generate income or money. And sometimes we, the youth are limited in knowledge of money and finances in our dispensation. So we thought it wise to invite some of the experts in the financial field to take us through the financial realm. We didn’t get the opportunity to some of these insights. But as it stands now, personally, I have benefited from this particular program. Because the information I needed to know last five years or ten years, I have gotten to know it now,” he said.
Finance Expert, Dr. Evans Duah, also said “Ghana needs more businesses to thrive; we need to create an enabling condition in our country. Ghana has become a destination of choice for investors. So many investors in West Africa, they prefer Ghana.
“What we should do is create more enabling environment policies like 1D1F. They should enhance it, they should open it up, and make sure that so many industries are benefiting from it. So that once productivity is up, we’ll be able to help with our GDP and creation of employment. We should try to encourage our businesses to go into export”.
During the Financial Prosperity Summit held in Kumasi, experts expressed their lamentation over Ghana’s discouraging 32 percent score in the Global Financial Literacy Survey, a standing that places the country within the category of nations exhibiting one of the lowest financial literacy rates, highlighting a pressing need for enhanced financial education and awareness initiatives.