Many Ghanaian women in Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) have received knowledge, skills and financial tools from Ecobank Ghana to address essential everyday money decisions, such as bookkeeping, basic accounting, budgeting, savings and investments.
This training was organised to mark Ecobank Day, a flagship annual Corporate
Social Responsibility to give back to the communities in which the bank lives,
works and serves.
Addressing the gathering at the training centre at UPSA in Accra, the Managing
Director of Ecobank Ghana, Mr Dan Sackey, said the focus of this year’s Ecobank
Day was increasing financial literacy and financial inclusion, particularly for
women and youth in marginalised communities.
“We recognise that financial literacy and financial inclusion are life-changing
matters, and that is why we treat them very seriously. We are determined to
help raise financial literacy, which in turn will drive financial inclusion in
our local communities.”
“Ecobank Ghana is committed to playing an important role in our communities as
a meaningful contribution to the development of the African continent, in line
with our overall corporate vision”, he said.
Financial literacy, Mr Dan Sackey explained was the ability to use one’s
knowledge and skills acquired through education and training to effectively
manage financial resources, ideally for a lifetime of financial well-being.
And he said financial inclusion meant having access to useful and affordable
financial products and services to meet one’s needs- payments, savings,
personal and small business loans, and insurance.
He added that financial literacy and financial inclusion a key enablers in
reducing poverty and boosting prosperity.
He however said that 68 per cent of sub-Saharan Africans were not financially
literate and 62 per cent of the unbanked lived in rural areas with 40 per cent
of them young adults aged 15 to 24. Thus, 74 per cent of the unbanked had, at
most, primary education.
He mentioned that as part of the bank’s contributions to reducing these
statistics, the Ecobank family in Ghana held four simultaneous events in Accra,
Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale to equip people in the SME sector with knowledge
and skills to manage their finances effectively.
He disclosed that there was one slated to take place in Manya Krobo later date
due to unforeseen circumstances.
Mr Sackey also said that the training was another avenue to provide the women
and youth with easy access to opening accounts remotely as well as receiving
and making payments and sending funds to loved ones without visiting the branch.
He added that it was part of the aim of Ecobank to help people improve their
finances, recordkeeping, and ability to successfully start and run businesses
and improve their quality of life.
Ecobank Ghana presented 50 sewing machines to vulnerable ones identified in
each of the four locations with the expectation that the beneficiaries with the
knowledge gained from the training would put the machines to commercial use to
be able to generate incomes to improve the lives of their families to gain
financial independence.
Participants in Accra were drawn from diverse backgrounds including members of
the various Seamstresses associations, operating from deprived and marginalised
communities.
He however cautioned the customers of Ecobank to remain vigilant and not fall
prey to the activities of fraudsters who are currently on the loose and
defrauding unsuspecting customers, especially as the festive season of
Christmas and New Year drew near.
Executive Director and Head of Consumer Banking for Ecobank Ghana, Dr Edward
Nartey Botchway disclosed that the training took place simultaneously in all
the 33 African countries the bank operates with the same theme, “Financial
Inclusion For All; Leave No One Behind” across the continent.
Dr Nartey Botchway said it was not a one-off event but rather Ecobank would
continue to engage the people to put to good use the knowledge and skills
acquired from the training to better their lots in the Small and Medium-scale
Enterprise sector.
“If you are going to know the performance of your business, it is not possible
to do that without proper recording and tracking what you are doing. That is
the reason why we think this training is keen”, he said.
Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline.com